Sensei, I Love You
by sakuraakamichelle
Summary: A troubled homeless student and an eager to help teacher. What can result from that interaction?
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

**Sensei, I Love You  
Prologue  
By Sakura aka Michelle**

Kinomoto Sakura trudged up along the long path leading to her school gates, tired from her morning part-time job at the convenient store. Things were getting much more difficult for her, especially when she has to juggle between work and school. What about social life? Sakura did not have one and she did not find a need for it. She already had her hands full with making ends meet and she did not need any distraction. What she need now was a roof over her head and that meant that she has to work to pay for her rent. Her landlord had just warned her that morning that she would be evicted out from the small pitiful rented room if she did not pay by the end of this week, which was just a few days away. That was the reason why she had skipped school for several days just to work extra hours.

The number of students on the path increased as she neared the school gates. They had hurriedly rushed to the sides upon seeing her, as if they were afraid of her. Sakura was amused by the sight of students quaking at their knees whenever she was near. She never knew what brought about that fear in the student population and she could not be bothered about it, eager to get to her class and grab some precious minutes of sleep before lessons officially start for the day. She sighed inwardly as she reminded herself that she had to rush to work in one of the café in the neighbouring town. It would be a very long day.

_It was a dream came true for Sakura! Her parents were finally bringing her to the long awaited family trip to the famous hot spring! She could not contain her excitement upon hearing the sudden news from her parents and was harping on it during breakfast._

"_Oka-san! Otou-san!" Sakura called out in the middle of the breakfast, a worried frown on her face. "Are we really going to the hot spring? Not going to break our promise again? My junior high school graduation trip?"_

_Kinomoto Nadeshiko and Kinomoto Fujitaka turned to look at each other before bursting out into laughter. Sakura pouted cutely when her parents laughed at her and began protesting. "It has already been three months since I graduated from junior high school! Three months ago you said you were bringing me there but then it was cancelled because of bad weather. Two months ago you said you were bringing me there but cancelled it because Onii-chan was feeling a little sick. Last month, you also said that you were bringing me there but otou-san, you could not get away from work to bring me there! I have the right to query about this. At least I can be mentally prepared for it."_

_Kinomoto Touya, her annoying brother who seemed to take teasing her as part of his life, reached over to pinch her cheek painfully. Sakura screeched in response and gingerly tried to rub the sting out of her cheeks, glaring at her brother. "Don't be rude. Well, one can't help it being a monster of the house," he snickered and yelped in pain as Sakura stomped on his right foot beneath the table._

"_Hah! Revenge!" Sakura shouted out in triumph and pumped her fists into the air energetically. Nadeshiko could not help but giggled at the scene her children were creating. As if knowing what she was thinking, her husband reached over to clasp her hand in his, squeezing it gently and giving her a warm smile that could melt her heart every time he did that._

"_Geez how old are you again?" Touya asked sarcastically as he nursed his abused foot. "You act like five year old kid for a fifteen year old monster."_

_Seeing that Touya had already moved his feet away from the threat of another foot stomping exercise, Sakura retaliated by punching his biceps and had him wincing in pain and clutching his arm in an exaggerated display of pain. "I forgot you learnt karate and judo…" Touya muttered; the punch had actually hurt a little._

"_Stop calling me a monster!"_

"_Only if you stop acting like one," Touya glared at his sister, who just stuck out her tongue at him in response._

"_We'll leave after breakfast darlings," Nadeshiko chirped and clapped gleefully. It had been a long time since they had a family trip together. Fujitaka has been preoccupied with university lectures and Touya was busy with his university stuffs. The only time they could go on trip was when the kids were having summer vacation._

"_It will be a few hours' journey to the hot spring," Fujitaka warned. "Prepare whatever you need for vacation and we will set of immediately after breakfast."_

_Sakura cheered before gulping down what remained of her breakfast before rushing up her room to pack her stuff while humming a tune absentmindedly. Touya had dropped by her room to tease her mercilessly, which resulted in him being kicked out of her room and thus earning him a sore butt, courtesy of Sakura._

_Within an hour's time, they were cushioned in Fujitaka's car and were headed off to their vacation destination. Sakura had chatted incessantly about anything and everything under the sun with her family. Correction: with her parents. Touya only made her made with all the non-stop teasing and she had wisely ignored him while she continued her chatter, saving herself from any risk of bursting blood vessels. _

_That was the reason that it was a very lively atmosphere in the car. Sakura loved her family very much, having been raised under such a caring family who also loved her just as much. The banter continued within the car and perhaps it was because they were too engrossed in their conversation, none of them noticed the incoming car until it was too late._

_Sakura screamed out a warning, which Fujitaka reacted instantly by swirling their car sharply to the right to avoid a head-on collision with the car, which had obviously been on the wrong lane of the road. It was a mistake, a very big mistake; a honking truck was heading towards their car at a very fast speed and unable to respond in time, a crash resulted._

_Sakura heard screams of pain from her family as the windshield shattered upon impact and the whole car flipped sideways and somersaulted in the air before landing in a wasted heap of metal some distance away. Surprisingly, the road there was vacant without any car in sight so there was no second collision of any sorts. Their car was overturned and they were being squashed upside down, hanging on their seatbelt, the only thing that had somehow managed to remain in place and helping them to save their lives._

_Somehow, Sakura had remained conscious throughout the whole ordeal and the tumbling about made her sick. Her head was hurting as if somebody had brought a hammer down her temple and she had some difficulties breathing properly as well. Her vision was hazy as she surveyed the interior of the car and noticed that it was too quiet. Touya was groaning as he slowly came round, cursing loudly at the onslaught of pain as he struggled with his bindings. He dropped down onto bottom of the car with a loud _oomph_!_

"_Onii-chan…" Sakura whimpered painfully and that caught Touya's attention as he became alerted to his surroundings. It was becoming painful for her to breathe. He quickly set to the tasks of helping his family members. Nadeshiko and Fujitaka had fainted from the impact, so he quickly helped Sakura with her seatbelt so that she could assist him with their parents._

_Somebody was trying to open the door on Sakura's side as they frantically dug at their parents' seatbelt buckle in an effort to free them. Sakura ignored the loud banging on the door, figuring out that it was most probably the guilty truck driver who had come to help them. Her sole priority was to get her parents out but it was futile, the seatbelt remained stuck._

_The door on her side was freed suddenly, allowing Sakura to scramble out. Hands reached in to pull her out from her confinement but she was aghast when they tried to bring her away from the car. Sakura screamed as she pushed the hands away, not hearing their voices. She only knew she had to get her family out. _

_She crawled her way back to her father's side and fumbled for the door, pulling it with all her might but it did not bulge. Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes as she saw her father's bleeding form in the car while Touya was fighting to help their mother. "Otou-san!" Sakura screamed. "Otou-san, wake up!"_

_The driver also attempted to help her and together, they tried to break through the door. The overpowering smell of petrol wafted through her nose and she looked around, alarmed, and found the source with a sense of dread and foreboding came through her. She hurried her attempts to save her father as she screamed for Touya to hurry up._

_Then, she was torn away from the car forcefully. "NONONONONONONO!" Sakura screamed as she attacked the hands which were pulling her away from her family. Her eyes widened when she saw the pool of petrol a small distance away from their car catch fire and within a span of a few seconds, the whole car was engulfed in a sea of fire. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Sakura wailed as tears flew freely down her cheeks as she continued to sob brokenly in the arms of some stranger._

Sakura came awake with a start as she broke out in cold sweat and she jerked herself upright in her seat. She was the only one left in the classroom; the rest of the students had already left home after the lessons had ended for the day. The clock above the blackboard read five and all the lights in the classroom were off. Covering her face tiredly with both her hands, Sakura sighed and then blinked at the wetness on her hands. Surprised, she could only stare as the droplets of tears rolled down her palm.

It has already been more than a year since the accident. Even though she had more or less come to terms with her loss, she still could not help that she still dreamt of it sometimes and reliving the nightmare again and again. She fisted her hands and held them over her eyes, willing the tears to stop as she tried to suck in mouthfuls of air to calm her ragged breathing.

_I am all alone…_

Memories of her family came flashing back in her mind, haunting her and reminding her of the painful reality whenever she was alone. That was part of the reason why she always kept herself busy; to keep her mind occupied so that it would not wander back to the past. She pressed her hands harder against her face as she hunched over her table and let a few sobs escaped her, knowing that there was no one around to catch her in her unguarded form.

Sakura stiffened when she heard the wooden door to her classroom slide open. There was a slight pause before she heard footsteps and it was coming towards her! Cursing herself mentally for her oversight, she quickly faced the windows and pretended to be looking outside since her seat was just next to the window at the back of the class. Sniffling for the last time, she hurriedly wiped the lingering tears away and put on an irritated mask again, which she often did to keep people away.

The person stopped at the table and Sakura continued her pretense of being occupied by whatever she was looking at outside the window but there was nothing interesting worth looking so she settled for pretending to enjoy the view of the trees and grasses while waiting for the person to go away.

When the person refused to talk, curiosity got the better of Sakura, who turned to find out who the intruder was and blinked in surprise at the man kneeling on one knee beside her seat. No, he was not proposing to her if that was what you were thinking. That was her homeroom teacher, her attractive and most sought after male and eligible teacher in Tomoeda High School. Many girls literally chased after him in school but Sakura was not one of them. She knew better than to get involved in such time wasting situations.

"What do you want?" Sakura scowled and tried ignore the rising sense of panic she was feeling at the moment, wondering if he saw what actually happened. Li Syaoran, homeroom teacher of class 2-1, wordlessly pulled the unresisting Sakura forward into his embrace while remaining in his current position, albeit a little awkwardly. Sakura, confused by his actions, took refuge in his arms for several moments, absorbing his warmth before roughly pushing him away and causing him to lose his balance. She glared at him as she towered over him. "What are you trying to do, pervert?" Sakura hissed angrily.

Not bothering to wait for any response, Sakura grabbed her bag and made a bee line for the exit. She has to rush to the next town for her café job and she would most likely be late if she lingered any longer. She gritted her teeth in exasperation and annoyance when she heard the same footsteps following her along the corridor.

"Sakura-chan! Where are you going?" her sensei chimed behind her, raising her level of anger towards another notch. "Why are you ignoring me?"

Sakura whirled back to confront him, only to find the said person right in front of her, so close that she almost bumped into his chest when she turned back. Being a head taller than her, Sakura was forced to look up at him as her eyes spit daggers while she fought the urge to blush like a crazy schoolgirl.

"I am just your student," Sakura retorted, punctuating each word with a hard poke to his chest. "Stop acting like I am your girlfriend or whatever and bug me like nobody's business. Stay away!"

Syaoran's eyes twinkled at the mention of the word 'girlfriend' and he was grinning away. "Good idea!" he agreed cheerfully and threw his arm around her shoulders and began propelling her towards the exit. "I shall bring my girlfriend out for dinner tonight."

Sakura gasped at his boldness and started resisting, shrugging the hands off her shoulders. When that did not work, she started pinching him to get his compliance. "Let go of me, your perverted teacher! This isn't funny! Let go of me!"

"I am not joking," Syaoran replied seriously and the change in his demeanor confused Sakura. She managed to dislodge his arm and put some distance between them. "I am very serious about this. Will you let me take care of you?"

"Wha-what?" Sakura fairly shouted in open-mouthed shock as she tried to process the strange words spewing out from her deranged teacher. "This is the craziest thing I have ever heard ever since you became my homeroom teacher. I am going to pretend that I did not hear all the things that you have said and stop coming within three metres of me, do you understand?" Sakura checked the time on her watch and was dismayed to find that she was definitely going to be late for work. Her boss would want to go for her head when she reached the cafe. "You are wasting my precious time," Sakura accused him and made a mad dash for the exit.

* * *

**Initially, I wanted to finish writing the whole of the story before I post it up but I didn't want to wait to long since I don't know when I'll finish the whole story. So, I have it up early! This is just the initial draft of Sensei, I Love You. I'll continue to post the draft as what I've typed since I had to control my inner editor when I wrote this so that I don't have the tendency to go back and rewrite everything from scratch (which is what I was and still am sorely tempted to do). Just to let you know I'll go back to editing the whole story when my total draft is out. :) Hope you don't mind the messiness. And yes, you can complain about it in your review. *grins***

**Thanks again for waiting patiently and for reading my new story! I hope you like it so far, even though it's only the Prologue. **

**In addition, I've also created another twitter account just for my writing. You can find me at MichelleWrite I'll probably just rant about my fics and stuff there. **

**Chapter 1 will be updated next weekend! **


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

**Sensei, I Love You  
Chapter 1  
By Sakura aka Michelle**

As expected, Sakura turned up late for work and had to endure the harsh scolding from her angry boss. She winced inwardly every time her boss raised her voice as it was piercing to the ears. It was a wonder that Sakura could survive through the whole year in this café. The manager may have been difficult to handle, but the pay was fabulous. After all, this was the famous "Maid Café" and it was popular for its top-notched service, pretty maids and, not forgetting to mention, its revealing maid uniform. Men seemed to flock to "Maid Café" just to ogle at their maids.

Each and every maid in the café was assigned to wear a specific coloured uniform. Sakura was assigned to wearing the one-piece pink maid uniform with a white apron. It was extremely lacy and low cut, with puffy sleeves and layered skirts. The fabric was stretched tautly across her chest as if it was her second skin. To her annoyance, she often caught many of her male customers ogling at her chest, even though she was not as well-endowed as the rest of the maids.

Honestly, Sakura had trouble getting used to her maid uniform and definitely not used to people staring at her so openly. She often found herself adjusting the front of her uniform frequently and fidgeting uncomfortably under the intense gaze of her customers when she took their orders. Despite all these shortcomings, she stayed on the job for survival. She needed the money to pay for her rent and other necessities.

"I tolerated your mistakes for as long as I could remember." The manager's voice was shrill as she continued ranting at Sakura. "Why is it that you were always late for work this year? There weren't such problems from you last year! As our café's beloved maids, we should uphold our service standards but I caught you yawning so many times during your working hours. If these continue, I will dismiss you from service. I don't want to put my café's reputation at risk. Should you make one more mistake—even if it's a minor one—I am going to have to let you go and half whatever salary you are owed. Do we have an understanding, Kinomoto-san?"

Sakura gulped and nodded her head. _One last chance! I have to do whatever I can! I need this month's salary to pay my rent urgently! _A tray of food was placed on the kitchen counter with a slip indicating the table number and Sakura hurriedly went to serve it to the customer, putting on her best smile which faltered once she saw the customer.

The man has brown hair and clear amber eyes. He was grinning at her. Yes, that man sitting there was her homeroom teacher. He has removed his tie and formal jacket but still looked as handsome as he was in the class. That was not the problem Sakura had in her mind. Her hands shook as she carefully placed the tray on the table before removing the dish and serving it to Syaoran. He was drooling on his food and staring at it unabashedly. Sakura was thankful for his distraction.

_Did he realize it was me?_ Sakura thought nervously and she quickly retreated back to the kitchen. The school has a strict rule that stated that students were not allowed to hold part-time. What's worst was that Sakura had totally skipped school. If Sakura was not so hard-pressed for money, she would not have broken her school rule secretly and now, she was discovered by her homeroom teacher. She patted her cheeks hard and fought to control her emotions. _It's going to be all right. I changed my hairstyle a little and added strong make-up to my face. I am beyond recognition and besides, Li-sensei did not react when he saw me. Perhaps he did not see through my skillful make-up? I will have to be careful out there and make sure to stay out of his sight before anything drastic happens._

Somehow, Sakura was grateful that there were not many customers at the time and many of them were taken care of by her colleagues. She heaved a sigh of relief from the hideout in the kitchen while secretly checking on Syaoran by peeking out from her hidden location.

_Why is he eating so slowly? Is he doing it on purpose to torture me? Oh wait, he is ordering something. Desserts? Guys and desserts?_

Her colleague who took down Syaoran's order passed her the order chit because she was already blocking the path to the kitchen. Sakura scanned through the contents of the order and her eyes widened at the amount of chocolate desserts her teacher has ordered.

_One… Two… Three… Four… Four? He ordered four different desserts? I didn't know he was that fond of chocolates… _Sakura smacked the top of her own head at her thought. _Why must I know so much about him? It is not as if I am interested about him… Oh wait, I need to pass the order chit to the pastry chef…_

The bell at the entrance jingled as some new customers came in. Sakura surveyed the café area and found that her colleagues were all preoccupied with their own customers and not to mention that the manager was eyeing her intensely as if passing some unspoken messages. _If you don't work then you will get no pay from me!_

Sakura did some breathing exercises to calm herself down before rushing out to greet the customers. They were waiting to be shown to their seats. Sakura looked around and was dismayed to find that the only table available that was big enough to accommodate the big group was the one next to Syaoran. She fought to maintain the professional smile on her face as she ushered her customers towards the vacant seats. She handed them a menu each with a forced smile and stood there patiently for their order. She had to endure the speculative glances that she knew Syaoran were shooting at her. She angled her body in such a way that her teacher would not be able to take a good look at her face.

Sakura's customers finally made their orders after long moments of indecision. Her heels clicked loudly on the tiled floor as she made a mad dash to the kitchen with their order chit. She passed the order chit to the pastry chef and slid down into a puddle on the floor, finally overcome by the tension within her.

"Sara-chan," The pastry chef called out impatiently, using Sakura's café name. "The order is ready. Bring them out or it'll turn cold."

Sakura blinked. She was totally unaware that she had blanked out for quite some time. She hurriedly took the tray full of food and hot drinks which that big group ordered. It was a difficult task to balance the tray as it was much bigger than what she could normally handle. Sakura paused and was about to turn to get a smaller tray to split the items to a few trips but she caught the angry glint in the chef's eyes. She gulped and was out in the customer area in an instant, carrying the heavy tray on unsteady feet.

_Li-sensei is still here!_ Sakura mentally shouted to herself as she eyed him intently, hoping that he would not look up from munching on his desserts. However, her luck was just not with her. She was too focused on her teacher and she tripped on the steps. With a shriek of alarm, she went crashing down to the ground and gained the attention of all staff and customers immediately.

She felt her face turn red at the looks they were giving her. She eyed the spilt food in dismay and rubbed the scorched skin on the top of her hand, a result of spilt hot coffee. Her colleagues were assuring the guests as she picked herself up. She turned wide-eyed when Syaoran was already beside her and helping her up. He was staring at her scorched hand with a grim expression. Without warning, she was pulled to the kitchen's sink and was forced to cool her hands in running water. She let out a sigh of content when the burning sensation subsided and tugged her hands away from Syaoran's to wipe them dry on her apron.

"You shouldn't be working," he said and was dragging his fingers through his messy hair in exasperation. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Why should you care?" Sakura retorted as she tried to walk away to clear the mess she had made. She suddenly hoped her manager was not around to witness her embarrassing moment. "It's not as if you are my family."

"I care," he interrupted, causing Sakura's heart to stop beating at his simple words. "I care about you more than I should."

"You're crazy," Sakura replied and struggled to free her hand from his grasp. He only tightened it and made her escape impossible. Her colleagues stared at her in the kitchen and she cringed at the manager's dark scowl. She had obviously made a mistake in her work. There was no doubt that the manager would want to inflict punishment on her. That punishment alone could get her kicked out of her current small rented apartment. "Let go of me. I'm still working."

"No, you're not," Syaoran said and his expression hardened. Sakura gulped, wondering what he meant. Of course she had to be working, otherwise where would she get the money to pay for her rent?

"Please just let me work," Sakura pleaded softly, not wanting others to hear what they were saying. "I need this job. Heck, I need all the jobs I am having. I really need them."

Syaoran ignored her and continued nursing the burn on the back of her hand. He turned off the tap and before she knew it, he was issuing an order to her colleagues. "First-aid kit?"

The manager puffed her chest, looking livid at Syaoran's sudden authoritative tone. She took a threatening step forward but was pushed to the side by one very anxious waitress. Her hands fumbled on the first-aid kit as she handed it over to Syaoran and even managing to open it for him. She seemed very worried about the burn.

"Sir, you can't just waltz into our kitchen as if this place belongs to you!" the manager screeched.

"She's injured. Besides, she's my responsibility now," Syaoran told the manger calmly, shocking Sakura even further. _His_ responsility? Sakura wondered if he knew what he was talking about. It was as if he had suddenly gone crazy. She wasn't even that close to him.

"Good!" The manager exclaimed, her frown intensifying. "Because she is no longer in our employment."

Sakura paled immediately and her chest felt constricted, making it difficult for her to breathe. "What?" she gasped a few moments later, looking at the triumphed face of the manager.

"I told you earlier. One more mistake and you are out. What you did out there was a mistake—a big mistake. Being the good manager that I am, I'm still going to pay you your full salary for today."

Sakura jerked away from Syaoran, glaring at him. It was his fault that she had lost her concentration. That instant was enough to create a big disaster. The manager's gleeful expression was enough to tell her that she'd not be able to persuade the manager to give her job back and it was useless to try.

"Fine, I'll accept your _kind_ offer and leave after I'm paid," Sakura said resignedly. She turned to leave but was blocked by Syaoran, who was looking down at her. "You! Get out of my life you useless teacher."

"No way!" Syaoran chirped and followed her.

Sakura let out a defeated sigh and stopped suddenly. Syaoran almost crashed into her. His quick reflex was the only thing that prevented her from a painful fate on the cold hard floor. "Look... You have created enough trouble for me already. Stop following around and leave me in peace. Now I have to look for another job so that I can have a place to stay."

"You are worried about being homeless?" Syaoran asked. "Is that why you are working so hard and missing school?"

"What do you think?" Sakura asked, indicating her frilly attire. She would die of embarrassment if she were to wear this in public but she was willing to wear it for her job. "I'm not like other people, who are fortunate enough to have a secured place to live in. I have to work hard to have a decent place to sleep. So, I beg you… Just leave me be. It's not as if the school can provide me the money I need for the rental if I start attending lessons."

"If that is what you are worried about, I have a proposition for you."

"I have no time to listen to all your nonsense, Li-sensei. I need to look for another job to keep me alive," Sakura said dismissively, turning to the staff room to get her belongings and to change out of her uniform.

Syaoran did not follow her into the room, so she was blessed with a few moments of solitude in which she wallowed in self-pity. Tears welled up in her eyes as she walked to her locker. By the time she opened her locker, tears were streaming down her cheeks. The rent was due and what she currently has wasn't enough. The landlord would probably toss out her belongings into the streets again and she won't have enough money to bargain with the landlord. If only she had other relatives she could rely upon. Then, she wouldn't be in such a sticky situation. She would most probably have to sleep on the streets again.

There was nothing much for her to pack. She quickly changed out of her uniform and tossed it into the laundry basket near the door. Of all her jobs, this was the only one that paid a higher salary but at the same time, she had to endure the manager's attitude and sometimes harassment from the guests.

She dried her tears on her shirt sleeves and was determined not to let this single setback hinder her job hunt. She would have to find the next best job available on the street and make do with it. She wouldn't want to sleep on the street no matter what it takes. It's just too dangerous since she would be alone and not to mention the attention from the unmentionable kind of people she would draw. She shuddered at the thought of that. Best to get to work! Oh! And to get her current day's salary from the manager before she left the café. After all, she did earn it by working hard.

Steadying herself, she exited the room and bumped straight into Syaoran, who was standing right in front of the door. Sakura rubbed her bruised nose and cursed Syaoran for standing in her way. "Language," Syaoran reminded with an amused smile. He held up an envelope to her and she accepted it curiously. "That's your pay for today. So, are you ready to go?"

Sakura's head shot up so fast that she was amazed she didn't sustain a crick. "What?"

"I asked if you are ready to go."

Sakura eyed Syaoran suspiciously, wondering if he had any ulterior motives. "I'm not going to go anywhere with you, you stupid teacher."

"How can you be so rude to me? I'm your teacher! Your _handsome looking_ homeroom teacher!" He exclaimed, thumping a fist onto his chest with pride.

Sakura rolled her eyes at his dramatic display. She sidestepped him and made her way to the back exit, where the staff usually used so as not to disrupt the customers. She only managed to take a few steps outside before Syaoran caught up to her and grabbed her hands, dragging her away forcefully. "Hey! I'm not going anywhere with you!"

"You want a roof over your head? Consider it done! We'll go to your current place and collect all your belongings. You are coming with me."

"What?" Sakura knew she must be gaping and looking very ridiculous. She was hoping that she had heard him wrongly. Go to his place? He must be insane! Sakura renewed her struggles against him, trying to pull away from him but he only tightened his grasp on her. She grunted in exertion and finally gave up.

"That's a good girl," Syaoran commented teasingly. If looks could kill, he would have died by now.

Sakura was already devising some ways to get rid of him. She could ask him to wait outside her house while she pack her belongings and just leave him there with no intention of coming out. There was no way that she was going to follow him _anywhere_. He's a guy for goodness sake. Besides, he was her teacher and one should never follow a guy to some unknown places. Who knew what dangers would be lurking there? Better be safe than sorry. Satisfied with that plan, Sakura followed him meekly and was a little surprised that he knew the way to her place. He must have memorized it from the school register. Oh, the perks of being a teacher. How convenient.

It took them little time to reach Sakura's place since the café was near. The journey was quiet and awkward. Sakura couldn't help but realize how big Syaoran's hand was and immediately felt like smacking herself on the head for having that insane thought. He was her teacher for goodness sake and she shouldn't be fantasizing anything about him. He definitely was a bad influence on her.

Sakura wasn't surprised to find her belongings at the gates of the small house in which she had rented a room to stay. Her landlord had packed her things for her and thrown them haphazardly outside. Feeling suddenly ashamed for her current situation, Sakura bowed her head and refused to look at Syaoran for fear of seeing the look of pity in his eyes. She tugged her hand away from him easily and went to collect her stuff, checking through the items to make sure that everything she had was out there. Her actions were stiff but she kept her tears at bay. It wasn't a good time to break down in front of an audience. She would never live down to that.

"These are all your things?" Syaoran asked, eyeing the two big bags that Sakura was holding on to as if they were her precious items. "Nothing else?"

Sakura shook her head and took in a huge breath to steady herself. "If there isn't anything else, then I shall make my move. Thanks for sending me back."

"Where are you going?" Syaoran reached out to grab onto one of the cumbersome bags. "You are coming with me."

"To where?"

"To my place of course!"

* * *

**Thanks for reading and the reviews for Prologue. Please be assured that I've read each and every wonderful reviews. I'll strive even harder to improve my stories. :) Next chapter will be up next weekend after editing it! See you next week as well!**


	3. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

**Sensei, I Love You  
Chapter 2**

This was the craziest thing that she had come across. Was her teacher for real? Before she knew it, she was standing in front of her teacher's house. It was a massive double storey house. Sakura suddenly wondered if he had gotten this place from his teacher's salary. Did a teacher earn that much? At least he won't have to sleep on the streets.

He was waiting for her by the gate, holding it open like a gentleman so that she could pass through before locking it to prevent unwanted strangers from loitering within the premises. Goodness! He also has a pretty lawn! Did she spy a swing over on the left side of the lawn?

"Welcome to my humble abode," he grinned and showed her into the house. They stepped into the dark house and Sakura waited for Syaoran to hit the switches for the lights. She was momentarily blinded when they came on. She was frozen to the spot by the sight that greeted her—the house was spacious and looked really comfortable. The living room was visible from the door and Sakura was awestruck by the humongous flat television screen mounted onto the wall. She didn't have the luxury of watching television for a long time! Those sofas of his were real masterpieces. It looked as if they were tailor-made by the looks of the fanciful designs on the leather. Sakura bet it would be really comfortable to sleep on it!

"Your house is awesome!" Sakura gasped, still looking around.

"And you only saw my living room. Wait till you check out my kitchen and my room," Syaoran said with a smirk.

Sakura turned her wide eyes to his and shrank back. His room? He wanted to show her _his_ room? "I don't think the last thing is necessary."

Syaoran chuckled. "I'm just showing you. It's not as if I'm going to pounce on you or anything. You are still underage right? Though the idea sounds dangerous and exciting, I'm going to pass for that."

Sakura's brow crinkled at Syaoran's bluntness. She was suddenly disgusted by what he had said. "Ew. Stop being so crude. Just… stop talking to me."

"Are you shy?" Syaoran asked suddenly, throwing Sakura into a panic. Twin heat bloomed on her cheeks at the question. "You are, aren't you? And I bet you haven't been to a bachelor's house before."

"Wha-What has it got to do with you?"

"Nothing much." Syaoran shrugged. "But it's pretty interesting to see you blush like mad. I think I've just found a new hobby."

Hobby? Syaoran was making it difficult for her to follow his conversation. One moment he was talking about being under aged, then he was talking about being shy and before she knew it, he had reached the topic of hobby. Was he just newly released from the lunatic hospital or something? Why was it so difficult for Sakura to follow his conversation?

"I'm just staying for the night," Sakura interrupted his one-sided conversation. "I don't want to sleep in public places—I hate that. I'll be leaving the first thing tomorrow to look for new place to stay and to find a new job. I hope I won't be a bother to you tonight. I think I'll take the sofa."

"Take the sofa?" Syaoran sputtered. "Whatever for?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "To sleep of course! What else do you think I'll use it for? Sell it for cash? Actually that is a good idea! I believe this fanciful sofa will fetch me lots of money."

"Hey!" Syaoran protested and pushed Sakura away from his beloved sofa. "There's no way this baby is leaving my house so you can forget about that."

Sakura eyed the sofa and sighed. "I was just joking, Li-sensei. Surely you can handle a little joke?"

Syaoran straightened from hugging his sofa. "Of course! I'm made of tough material," he said and patted his chest, earning him a chuckle from Sakura.

"You're crazy," she told him truthfully. "But thanks for having me here today. I really appreciate it. Although I really wished you didn't ruined my job for me. That job really pays well and I've lost a great part of my income because someone wouldn't stop pestering me."

"Hey, don't blame me," Syaoran wagged a finger in front of Sakura's eyes. "You are the one who got distracted. I was merely having desserts there. You can't blame me for that. I'm just a simple and innocent little customer."

"A guy who likes desserts? You're the first one that I know of. Plus today is the first time I ever see you in the café. Don't lie to me about what you are doing there. You are stalking me, aren't you?"

"So what if I was? Surely a homeroom teacher has the right to be worried about their precious students. Especially those who decided to skip school on a whim."

Sakura's eyes widened at the accusation. On a whim? That crazy and childish teacher dared to think that she had skipped school on a _whim_? "I'm so sorry that you are worried about me because I decided to skip school on some random days without giving you any notice. If it will make you feel better, I could hand in my withdrawal letter tomorrow morning. Then you wouldn't have to worry too much about students like me," Sakura spat, crossing her arms defiantly and glared at him. "I think I better start drafting the letter now."

Ignoring Syaoran's protests, Sakura flopped onto the sofa and immediately sighed blissfully at being able to rest her leg after a long day at work. She was tempted to just lay flat on the sofa and end the night early but it was impossible when Syaoran was staring down at her from the back of the sofa. Without wasting any more time, Sakura dug some writing materials out from her big bags of belongings and started scribbling something on it.

"Dear Principal," Sakura recited as she wrote the words down, conscious of Syaoran breathing down her neck. Actually it was kind of a good idea to withdraw from school since it will allow her more time to work and save enough money to actually rent a decent apartment instead of a miserable small room. It would definitely be much more comfortable than having people staring at her when she stepped out of her rented room to use the facilities. "I hereby withdraw—hey! Give me back my paper!"

"Not a chance," Syaoran muttered and tore the paper into strips before returning them back to her. Sakura looked at her torn papers in dismay. "You are not going to withdraw from school."

"Why not? It's my choice! What has it got to do with you?" Sakura shouted and threw the strips of papers at his chest. They never made contact and just floated gently onto the floor. Sakura made a disgruntled sound and almost stomped on her feet in childish tantrum. This homeroom teacher really got on her nerves. First he had the gall to actually stalk her at her work and cost her to lose her dear job and now he wouldn't even grant her request to withdraw from school!

"Because I said so," Syaoran taunted. "And don't you dare argue with me on that. I'm still your homeroom teacher. Show me some respect." He stepped away from her and moved on to the narrow staircase on the side of the living room which led to the upper floors.

Sakura eyed his retreating form angrily and muttered under her breath. "Some homeroom teacher… Crazy... Stupid... Childish... Freaky... Stalker! Pedophile…"

"I heard _that_."

"Oh? That's great! 'Coz it's just so _you_."

"I don't have time for this. Just sit there and wait. I'll prepare a room for you. It'll take a bit of time since my house is in a mess at the moment without a maid."

Sakura's eyes went round at that, her anger momentarily forgotten. He could even afford a maid with his teacher's salary? How on earth was that possible? "Wow," Sakura whispered to herself and sank onto the sofa again. "And he calls this messy?"

She stared into space for a few moments with many thoughts flashing in her mind and it gave her a headache. She was very tired after everything that has happened today. He said it would take him quite some time to prepare a room for her and perhaps she could use this chance to write a complete withdrawal letter for submission. She could also save a little on school fees as well! Her eyes sparkled upon thinking about it. It took her about fifteen minutes to get the letter right at the third attempt. She quickly re-read what she had written and was pleased with herself. Challenge completed! However, here came another problem—she would need to ask for an envelope for the withdrawal letter. That would mean Syaoran would know about the letter and he will definitely tear it up again. Sakura shook her head. No. She wouldn't risk that again. Not when it took her lots of effort to come up with a perfect letter. She'll just make do with the letter alone.

Having finished with her withdrawal letter, Sakura kept her stationery and folded the letter neatly before sliding it inside her bag. She looked over at her belongings and felt a sense of loss weighing down on her. After so many years, that were all she had left. From a big house filled with smiles and laughter to what she was currently—alone and lost. She had to fight to live another day, to keep a roof over her head and food in her stomach. Truthfully, she was getting a little tired from the daily reality battle. She must be losing herself since she was thinking so negatively but how could she be happy with what was going on around her? It was impossible.

Sakura gave in to her sudden impulse to see her family photo, the only one she had managed to save when she was evicted out from her own house, along with some clothing and necessities. She always left it on her bed when she slept as she could pretend her parents were still with her, protecting her like always. Dragging the biggest bag in front of her, she began to dig through her belongings and frowned when she couldn't find it. That's weird. She discarded the bag and dragged the other one over and panicked when she still couldn't find it.

"No… Nononono!" Sakura chanted breathlessly as she proceeded to overturn her bags and combed through her belongings that were spread out on the floor in Syaoran's house. "It can't be!"

Syaoran must have heard the ruckus Sakura had created and came bounding down the stairs. "What happened?" He stood shocked still when he saw the mess on his floor but he didn't admonished Sakura. She looked on the verge of tears as she looked through her items, tossing them everywhere. "Hey, what's wrong?" He slowly stepped closer to her and crouched down so that he was at eye level with her.

Sakura blinked her tearful eyes up at him. "My photo… It's missing."

"What photo?" Syaoran asked, looking around for the said item.

"It's not here…" she began sniffling. "It's not here…"

"Hey, relax," Syaoran cooed, pulling Sakura up and depositing her on the sofa. She looked detached and he was actually worried about her. "I'll help to look through your things again. Don't worry. It should be around here somewhere."

"That's the only thing they left for me," Sakura whispered brokenly. "And I lost it. I actually lost it."

Sakura was still clutching one of her bags in her hands. Her knuckles had already turned white from gripping too hard. Syaoran gently pried her hands away from the bag and gave her a small smile of encouragement, which had her blinking in surprise.

"We'll find it, eventually. Don't worry." Syaoran promised, patting the top of her clasped hands.

Sakura watched in silence as Syaoran began his own search and tidying up the mess at the same time. Somehow, she felt a little better. At least the panic had ebbed and she was feeling a bit numb. Watching her teacher at work seemed to take away part of her worry. She leaned against the sofa and took in deep breaths to calm herself. When was the last time she had seen her family photo? It was with her on the bed when she slept the day before and she had put it on the small bedside table when she woke up in the morning and rushed to work. Perhaps… Perhaps it was still in her rented room!

"I think I know where it is," Sakura announced, jumping onto her feet immediately and rushing out of the house. She heard Syaoran shouting behind her but she did not pause to look back at him. There was only one thing in her mind: to retrieve her precious photo before it was lost to her forever.

"Where are you going? It's already so late! Hey!"

Footsteps pounded behind her but she hardly noticed it against the rush of wind on her face. Her legs worked even harder to propel her to her destination. She was panting hard by the time she reached her formal residential place. The gate was locked so she had no choice but to ring the doorbell. Syaoran caught up with her soon and was glaring daggers at her.

"It's in there," Sakura told him before he could even get a word out. She rocked on the balls of her feet as she waited impatiently for the occupants to answer the door. When there was no movement at all, she pressed the doorbell again—twice—and almost pressed a few more times but Syaoran caught her hand. She looked at him inquiringly. "What?"

"Let's just wait," he said, releasing her hand immediately and watched her warily in the event she decided to launch an all out attack on the poor doorbell. "Patience is a virtue."

Sakura rolled her eyes at that particular statement. "Somehow, the way you said it isn't convincing enough. Correction: it's not convincing when _you_ say it."

"Aww! Why?" Syaoran pouted.

"Goodness! Stop acting like a child! You are my homeroom teacher, aren't you? You are supposed to be the mature one!"

"I'm acting like a child?" Syaoran snorted in disbelief. "No way. I'm the ever prince charming in school."

"Those girls are blind," Sakura retorted, turning her attention back to her house. Her eyes lit up when her landlord opened the door and came out to meet them. "Tanaka-san! I'm sorry to disrupt your beautiful evening but I believe that something of mine is still in my room."

"It's not your room anymore," Tanaka-san muttered loudly. "You don't get a room when you don't pay the rent."

"I'm really sorry about the rent. I promise I'll pay you back when I've saved enough money. Can I make a quick trip to the room to check if some of my things are still there?" Sakura asked. "Please?"

Tanaka seemed to ponder on her request. "When you have enough money to pay for last month's rent," he said and dismissed her by turning back towards the house, leaving a gaping Sakura behind. "If you don't pay, you can just forget about taking a step into my house."

"Please wait! That thing is very important to me!" Sakura shouted and rattled the gates to get Tanaka's attention.

"Therefore the more you shall get me last month's rent! You have until this weekend to pay or else you can kiss goodbye to your remaining belongings," Tanaka spat and waltzed into his house.

Sakura fisted her hands in anger. How could he hold her things ransom. She has to get the money before Tanaka destroyed her photo. Nothing could happen to that photo; otherwise she won't know what to do anymore. She always stared at the picture lovingly every morning and using it to remember all the happy memories of her family. It was how she recharged herself and how she got the strength to persevere on. Without it, she was just an empty shall and it was exactly how she felt right now.

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**That's Chapter 2 for you! And some of you guessed it right-Sensei, I Love You is actually inspired by the manga 'Faster Than A Kiss' which I really enjoyed reading. However, Sensei, I Love You isn't 'Faster Than A Kiss' because it's Sakura and Syaoran! And it won't be fun if SILY follows FTAK. D:**

**I'll update the next chapter within a week! (Depending on how fast I can get myself to edit the chapter) See you then!**


	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Sakura's grip on the metal gates tightened and it was amazing that it had not splintered into dust. She glared at the retreating form of Tanaka and willed herself not to cry in front of Syaoran. It was humiliating for somebody else to witness her tears. For now, she would trap them within her and unleashed the dam when she was alone.

"Is he always like this?" Syaoran asked quietly. "He sounds like an ass."

Sakura snorted and forced herself to move away from the gate before she broke into the house. "I assure you that he is. His son is even worse than him. Thank goodness for that angelic wife of his otherwise I don't think I can manage to survive under one roof with a bunch of sick retards. Somehow, I'm relieved to be out of that house even if it meant I have to sleep on the streets." She sighed upon remembering that she had no place to call her home. It was time to look for a new job and to do that; she would have to look for her classmate in school for some job opening.

"Better not let me see him," Syaoran said. "Or I'll rip all his teeth out."

Sakura's eyes widened at him for a second before she burst out laughing. If he was trying to cheer her up, it was working really well. Who would have guessed her idiot of a homeroom teacher would be this sweet. If only she could find some guy as good as him to be her boyfriend. Sakura paused on that thought and frowned. Why was she thinking about that? She must be getting tired.

"There's no need for violence." She had to resist the urge to giggle when she imagined the scene that Syaoran had just laid out. "That guy didn't do much. He stayed out of my way most of the time after that incident."

"That incident?"

Sakura scratched her head sheepishly. "Well, I must have used to much force to kick him when he tried to take advantage of me when his parents were not at home."

Syaoran paled immediately, his eyes growing wide. "Please tell me you aimed between his legs. That's the worst pain ever for guys." She nodded her head slowly and her cheeks turning even redder. Syaoran let out a loud cheer and pulled Sakura into his arms for a quick hug. "I'm so glad you did it!"

"Li-sensei!" Sakura gasped in protest as she pushed away from Syaoran. She certainly did not expect her teacher to hug her. Weren't students and teachers supposed to keep a respectful distance? Realizing that she had just created an awkward situation, she tried to resolve it by mentioning how tired she was which was the truth since she had worked from early morning without taking a break.

"You know… That's actually your fault for running out of the house like nobody's business," Syaoran admonished softly. "And you shouldn't work yourself too hard. You deserve to have a rest."

Sakura's ears perked out at the last sentence. "So does it mean that I can skip school for a few more days?"

"And work yourself to death for the next few days?" Syaoran asked. "Don't even think about it."

"Li-sensei!" Sakura whined and changed her tactics. She pouted at Syaoran and blinked up innocently at him. "Didn't you say that I deserve a break?"

"You know exactly what I meant. Shall I rephrase my sentence for you? You deserve a break from _work_." He smirked at her disappointed expression, making Sakura feel like kicking him and derive satisfaction from watching him writhe in pain.

"Whatever you say," Sakura waved him off and started walking towards his house. She had no intention of following his orders, whatever they may be. The only thing she knew was that she needed money fast to reclaim what was hers. "Which is the way to your house again? I wasn't paying much attention earlier when you brought me over."

Sakura had a good night's sleep at Syaoran's house. He had pushed her into one of the guestrooms at the second storey of the house. Her initial reaction was to stare at the elegant and spacious room in awe. She almost fainted when she saw the bed. It was easily twice the size of the one she used to sleep on over at Tanaka's place. This room was definitely fit for a princess to live in and she suddenly wished she could stay here forever. Sakura shook her head and pushed the thoughts away—of course she couldn't stay here! Which student ever stayed over at their teacher's place and a single unattached teacher at that?

It was still early and she had some time to spare before she had to head off to work. Sakura prayed that Syaoran was still sleeping so that she could sneak out of his house with all her belongings. Then she will go for her morning shift at the convenient store before looking for a place for rent. Hopefully she could get one by the end of the day so she won't have to end up homeless again.

Sakura was delighted to find an adjoined bathroom in the room. This made things even easier for her. She bathed and changed into a clean set of clothes before poking her head out of the door. There was silence in the house. It seemed to her that Syaoran was still sleeping and she relaxed. She couldn't believe her good luck. She tip-toed out of her room and gently shut the door behind her to minimize any disturbance. She cringed at the resulting loud click and hoped Syaoran didn't get to hear it.

"Going somewhere?"

"Oh my gosh!" Sakura gasped in fright, obviously not expecting him to creep up behind her. She whirled around to face him, trying to look angry and secretly pushing her bags behind her even though she knew he already saw them. "Sensei! Are you trying to scare me to death?" She put her hand over where her heart was and struggled to control her spiked heartbeat.

Syaoran merely raised a brow at her and eyed the bags calmly. "Didn't I say that you will be taking a break from work? Obviously you are a naughty student. Are you trying to sneak away when I'm not looking?"

"Of course not!" Sakura laughed it off but it sounded forced. She hung her head in defeat knowing that Syaoran could look past her lie. She released her hold on her bags and they slumped onto the floor with a loud thump. "Well… I needed to work for the money."

"I'm telling you now that you don't have to worry about that," Syaoran said sternly, causing Sakura to shrink away from him from the authority in his voice. He sounded very much like a teacher disciplining a mischievous student who had done something wrong. Sakura opened her mouth to argue about her family photograph but before she could get any words out, she was interrupted. "I want you to quit all your jobs since the school's policy doesn't allow students to work."

"What?" Sakura couldn't believe what she had heard. He wanted her to quit all her jobs? She would go hungry without the money to feed herself. She started imaging herself dying of hunger and her poor rotting body went undiscovered in some deserted location for years. She shuddered in response and hurriedly pushed the horrendous thoughts away. "No way! Where am I going to stay and what am I going to eat without the money? This is crazy, sensei!"

Syaoran shook his head. "You're wrong. You'll be crazy to be working when I can provide you a place to stay and food for you until you graduate."

OK, now she needed to sit down because all his words were confusing her. "Wait… What are you saying?"

"As your homeroom teacher, I grant you permission to stay at my place without having to pay rent and being the good teacher that I am, I will throw in meals as well. I doubt you eat much, right?"

"I don't eat a lot. I only have 2 small meals a day and totally skipped breakfast," she told him. That was the truth. By the time she woke up, she had to rush to get ready for her work at the convenient store. When her morning shift ended, she had to dash across the street to help out with another store before heading to the café in the evening. She barely had time in between her jobs to have her meals. Fortunately, the café provided dinner so she could save a little on the costs.

Syaoran picked up her wrist and examined it closely. He wrapped his hand around her wrist and frowned at how thin it was. "You probably have to eat more. Don't worry, you'll be well-fed here."

"I didn't say I'm going to stay here," Sakura said, a little irritated with him for making decisions for her. "I can't stay here, Sensei."

"Why not?"

Sakura sighed. Why was the man so dense? She examined him closely at such a close distance. Thick brows, clear amber eyes which could suck you in them, a perfect nose and a totally kissable mouth—wait… where did that adjective come from? She couldn't entertain such indecent thoughts! He was her teacher and moreover, he was much more older than her. On further thought, he didn't seem to be too old. "How old are you?" she blurted out the question before she could stop herself. Her eyes widened in surprise by her own audacity.

He answered without skipping a beat. "I'm twenty-five. What has this got to do with anything?"

"You are too young to be a teacher!"

"Oh please spare me that long speech but thanks for considering me to be still young." Syaoran grinned widely and winked at her causing her to lapse into another stunned silence. "Seriously, what has age got to do with the teaching profession? All the teachers did went through rigorous training before they are sent to school for teaching position. I can prove to you that I'm fully trained."

"But still…"

"You haven't answered me yet," Syaoran interrupted. "What has my age got to do with you staying here?"

Sakura frowned at him and tried to fight the blush that she knew would be visible on her face. "I'm a girl and you are a man."

"And?" Syaoran prompted. Drat the man! Couldn't he get what she was trying to say?

"I'm a student and you are my teacher?"

"So?"

Sakura felt like smacking herself on her forehead. How could she put her words in such a way that he can understand? This was so difficult indeed! "I cannot be here. What if you girlfriend drops by and wanted some time with you?"

"I don't have a girlfriend," he said, grinning at her. He slung an arm over her shoulder and guided her downstairs to the dining area next to the living room. "You don't have to worry about anything. That room is yours until you graduate or until you are capable of finding a place to stay on your own."

This was definitely a good offer. She could save on the rental and meals! This also meant that she did not have to work as much as before. Probably an evening part-time job would suffice. Wait; was she feeling relieved about the no girlfriend part?

"Why are you doing this?"

"Because you are my precious student?"

Sakura eyed him skeptically. "I don't see you adopting any other students."

Syaoran guffawed. "Adopting? What a crude term. I'm not old enough to be your parent, muffin."

"I can't imagine you being the parent of any child, seeing the way you are behaving like a child yourself." Sakura scrunched up her nose in disgust. "And don't call me muffin. I'm not some food."

"Muffin seems to be an appropriate nickname for you." He grinned and showed her the breakfast spread that he had prepared for them. It consisted of delicious looking French toast, poached eggs and orange juice. "A healthy meal to start your day. I hope it suits your taste buds."

"You made them?" Sakura asked and took a seat. She waited for Syaoran to sit down before starting with her meal. Her mouth watered as the aroma wafted into her nose. "Smells good."

"Of course! I pride myself in everything I do," he said and threw her another wink.

Sakura rolled her eyes and began stuffing her mouth with eggs. "Wow! This is surprisingly good. What a wasted talent; you should have applied to be a chef in top restaurants!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere, young girl, but I'll accept your compliment." He grinned and scooped some eggs from his own plate to hers, seeing how she gobbled up her food in record time. "Here, eat more."

"You don't want them?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Nah, watching you enjoy my breakfast filled with my love is sufficient enough for me."

Sakura's cheeks turned into a rosy hue. "No flirting! I'm your student, remember?"

Syaoran feigned surprise. "Oh! You are? I didn't know that. My bad. Hey, wait a moment… Can I have your number, muffin?"

"I told you my name is not muffin," Sakura argued and continued munching on her French toast.

"After what happened yesterday, I refused to call you Kinomoto and calling you Sakura would be too _normal_," Syaoran announced. Sakura choked on her food when she heard her first name. She hurriedly grabbed her cup of orange juice and gulp down half of it.

"Just be normal!" she screeched. "And don't you dare to call on me when we are in school! I don't want anyone to find out that I'm living with you. My goodness. This is so indecent! I'm actually living in a guy's house unchaperoned. At this rate, I don't think I can get myself a boyfriend before I graduate from high school.

"Well, you can treat me as your boyfriend if you want. It could help to balance your social life," he suggested teasingly.

"Thanks but no thanks. I rather sulk alone in my room."

"Spoilt sport."

Sakura stuck out her tongue at him and they resumed their breakfast with smiles on their faces.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

My inner editor is acting up again and I have the urge to rewrite. That happens every time I write and it's kind of hindering my progress. *sigh* I'll just have to work harder to keep my inner editor at bay! Anyway, do let me know what you think of this chapter! :) Thank you so much for reading!


	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

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**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 3**

* * *

All eyes were fixed on Sakura as she stepped into the class making her feel a little uncomfortable from the unwanted attention. She must have missed too many classes that her sudden reappearance in school to create such a reaction. Sakura hurried to her seat and tried to make herself invisible by pretending that her classmates were behaving normally and not pointing fingers and whispering behind her back.

The door slid open with such a force that it crashes against the wall with a loud bang, startling the students. A few girls even screamed out of fright.

"Good morning!" Syaoran chirped as he skipped to the front of the class. He paused suddenly when he realized that he forgot to close the door and hurriedly went to complete the task. "Ah… That was so careless of me… Anyway, I hope all of you have done your English homework. I'll be going round to collect it in a moment so do bring it out on your tables."

Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. She didn't know that they were given any homework and her idiot of a homeroom teacher had failed to mention it to her the day before. She watched as Syaoran went round to collect the homework from the class and inhaled sharply when he paused at her table. She looked up at him timidly and found him smirking at her. Damn the guy. Why didn't he just pass her the homework the day before since she was at his house anyway? "I don't have anything to hand in."

"Of course you don't, _muffin_," he said cheerfully. It sounded too sweet to her ears that it didn't cross her mind to be angry at the use of the weird endearment. Instead, she had to suppress a shudder that was threatening to wreck through her body. "You probably need to work harder to be able to keep up with the class. How about remedial sessions after school? Will that work fine for you?"

After school? She still needed to look for jobs after school since she would surely be fired from her job at the convenient store for failing to turn up in the morning. She had to thank Syaoran for that. Somehow, Sakura had a feeling that he loved to make things difficult for her. As if her life wasn't difficult at the moment.

"I _can't_!" Sakura whispered urgently. Her eyes darted around her to check if any of her classmates were witnessing this. She was lucky that many of them were either busy complaining about the homework Syaoran had given them or were just chatting among themselves. "You know I can't! I need to find a job!"

Syaoran leaned down towards her such that their faces were only inches apart. "And I told you to quit them, didn't I?"

"But—"

"So that settles it then," he suddenly announced loudly, catching class's attention. Sakura fisted her hands in anger and had to refrain from banging them on her table. What good would it do to inflict pain upon herself? She gritted her teeth when Syaoran winked at her. "Don't run away after school, _muffin_."

"My name is not muffin!" she hissed.

The lesson went on smoothly and Sakura was surprised to find that she was able to understand everything that Syaoran was teaching them. She could use this as a bargaining chip with Syaoran to get away from the remedial classes! That would give her some time to do what she had originally planned.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the lesson. Syaoran frantically gathered his teacher material and dashed out of the class without so much of a goodbye. Sakura chased after him, ignoring the strange looks her classmates were giving her.

"Sensei!" Sakura called out. "Sensei, wait a moment!"

Syaoran did stop and waited for her, tapping his feet against the floor impatiently. "What is it? I need to rush to my next class."

"I don't think a remedial class is necessary. I was able to understand your lesson just now so I think I'm catching up with the class."

"You are a naughty student, muffin," Syaoran teased, pinching Sakura's nose earning him a surprised yelp from her. He chuckled as she covered her nose with both hands. "The remedial class will still go on so don't think of running away. I'll be able to find you wherever you go."

"How about we shift the remedial class to tonight?" Sakura suggested, blinking her pretty emerald eyes at him. In normal circumstances, Sakura would have felt a little disgusted doing this sort of flirting to someone who was older than her but she couldn't care much about it now. She needed the time in the afternoon urgently. "Please?"

Syaoran waved her away dismissively. "Not going to happen, muffin. I'll see you after school then."

"Hey! That's not fair!"

"Nothing's fair in this world," Syaoran said and chuckled as he walked away. "Remember that."

Students were rushing out of the school with joy as the classes are over. Sakura, however, had to stay in her classroom for Syaoran for remedial class and hence was unable to find her friend who often has some job openings. Speaking of the man, where was he? He was actually half an hour late! How could he make her wait? She could have used this precious time for job hunt instead.

_Another five minutes_, Sakura thought to herself. That was her limit and she would give him an earful when she went back and she didn't care if he was in fact her homeroom teacher. A scolding for him was merciful enough. In fact, Sakura felt like strangling him for purposely making things difficult for her. He knew that she needed to look for job to pay for her overdue rental. Sakura gasped upon realizing that Syaoran must be preventing her from her job hunt efforts! He did want her to quit all her jobs and he had successfully just got her fired from her morning job at the convenient job by refusing to let her leave his side on the way to school. _Five minutes_.

Minutes ticked by. Sakura's anger went up another notch when he did not appear within her allocated time frame. Slamming her palms on the table, Sakura pushed herself up and grabbed her bag before stomping over to the door. She slid it open with a loud bang and promptly crashed into solid wall. Sakura gasped in surprise as the impact sent her reeling backwards. Hands shot out to pull her back. She was about to mutter her thanks when she saw the culprit and immediately pressed her mouth into a thin line.

"Slow poke."

Syaoran raised a brow. "Is that the way to treat your homeroom teacher?"

"Not happy?" Sakura retorted, pulling her bag higher on her shoulder. "Then behave like one." She shoved him away from the door and proceeded to step out of the classroom. She had enough of him for the day. If she stayed with him in the classroom for another second, she would be throttling her homeroom teacher.

"Hey muffin, where are you going? You are supposed to have your remedial class with me," he shouted across the corridor.

Sakura whirled back to throw a glare at him. "It was supposed to start more than half an hour ago. I wasted my time waiting for you. That's my precious time you have wasted. I'm going to claim it back," she retorted and walked away with her head held high. She paused on the third step and turned back. "And don't ever call me muffin in school."

"Why? There is nobody around."

"I don't care," Sakura threw the words at him without even bothering to look back. "Stop bothering me."

"Even when I say that what you want is with me?"

Sakura skidded to a stop and whirled around, her eyes wide and fixated on Syaoran. Her gaze flew to his hands and she frowned when she saw that they were empty. "What I want?"

Syaoran folded his arms and smirked. "Of course! I'm thinking how you can repay me for my heroic actions."

"Heroic actions?" Sakura snorted. "Somehow, I can't imagine it."

"Don't you want the photograph?" Syaoran tapped his feet impatiently, as if waiting for her to praise him for all the troubles he went through to retrieve the photograph for her in such a short time.

"Of course I want it! If it you didn't stop me this morning, I would be one step closer to having it in my hands! I just can't understand why you wouldn't want me to withdraw from school."

Sakura blinked as Syaoran's expression turned solemn but it turned back into his usual cheerful and idiotic smile. "I can't lose my precious and cute little student!" he explained and his smile turned even wider at her irritated expression.

"Are you sure you are a trained teacher?" Sakura asked. "With that attitude of yours, I don't think you can last a full year."

Syaoran leaned forward slighting, perching one hand on his hip and wagging a figure at Sakura. "You underestimate me, muffin. I can guarantee that I am a fully trained teacher. I have the certificate at home if you are interested, you can take a look."

Sakura's eyes narrowed at him and hissed, "Don't say it out loud!"

"Say what?" he asked and straightened, not understanding what she meant.

"Do you really want to gloat about the fact that you are actually pitying me and providing me shelter?"

There was silence for a few seconds. "So you think I'm that kind of person?" Syaoran asked, drawing out each word slowly. "Am I that bad?"

Sakura sighed. "I'm not saying you are bad but you are obviously not good either. Would a normal male teacher encourage their female cute student to live with them?"

Syaoran was amused. "So you think you are cute?"

"Can you stop answering my questions with questions? It's getting irritating," Sakura bit out. She was restraining herself from smacking Syaoran on the head. There was no way that she was able to view him as her teacher with the way he was behaving now. "Let's just stop all these nonsense. What exactly are you trying to tell me?"

"Me?" Syaoran asked, pointing a finger at himself.

Sakura rolled her eyes heavenward. "Who else?"

"I thought you meant you."

"Stop trying to confuse me! If you keep talking in circles, I'm really going to leave you here."

"Oh. Right. You know you can't bear to leave me alone."

Sakura glared at him. "Try me," she spat and spun on her heels and left the school even though she felt a little bad for speaking to Syaoran disrespectfully. After all, he was still her homeroom teacher and he was also concerned about her. If it wasn't for him, Sakura would have to worry about lodgings for the next few days.

She was glad that Syaoran did not follow her as she made her way out of the school. She paused at the gates, took a look about her and sighed. Everyone had already gone home while she still did not know where she could go besides her teacher's house.

Before Sakura knew it, she was already standing by the gates of Tanaka residence. She must have been thinking hard about her photograph that she did not even realize that her legs had moved on their own accord. It was as if she had no control over them.

Sakura tried the gates and was pleasantly surprised when it was unlocked. She did a little cheer in her mind when she spotted the front door was slightly ajar and there was no sign of any activity within the house. She stepped into the front yard and gloated about the fact that someone had so carelessly left the door open. This was her golden chance to grab what belonged to her! With her heart beating frantically against her ribs, Sakura sneaked into the quiet house.

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**To be continued**

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****I'm on a break from work till the end of the year and this means that I'll have more time to write! (If I'm not hanging around outside). Currently, I'm also doing a one-shot but I'm not sure if it will be ready any time soon. We'll see how it goes!

Thanks for reading, adding as favorite/alert or leaving a review! I really appreciate that! :)


	6. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP, not me!

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**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 5**

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Sakura poked her head into the house and listened for any hint of activity. She blinked at the gloomy interior, waited for any signals and was satisfied that the house remained eerily quiet before giving the door a gentle shove so that she could step in. She paused inside the doorway, glancing around the place worriedly, suddenly wondering if anyone was upstairs because she needed to go up to her former room—it would really be bad if she encountered anyone up there. Besides, Tanaka and the rest of the family could be back any moment and she would be caught. She had to be quick and leave the house before that could happen.

Closing the door behind her and hoping that she could hear the lock should anyone return early, she hurried up the stairs to her miserable former room on the second floor of the house. The knob turned easily and she released a huge sigh when she found the door unlocked. This made her task even easier. She slipped into the room and found that everything was left where it was before all her items were ruthlessly thrown out of the house. However, one thing was missing. Her photograph was not there.

Thinking that Tanaka must have hidden it somewhere in the house, she sneaked out of her former room and was about to step into Tanaka's room, which was just a few paces away from hers, when she heard the unmistakable click of the lock on the front door before it swung open with a loud bang. A string of muffled curses could be heard and Sakura's face paled when she recognized the owner of the voice—it was Rui, Tanaka's creepy son. Without giving it any further thought, Sakura hurriedly hid inside her former room.

There was nothing she could do while trapped in the room. She couldn't very well just skip outside and waved hello to Rui before making a mad dash for the door. No—there won't be enough time for her to make a clean escape. He would catch up with her easily since it will definitely take her some time to fumble with the locks on the door. Her next best alternative was the sole window in the room. She padded across the small room and peered down from the open window. It was a long drop from where she was to the soft thatch of grass below and she hesitated from jumping out. What if she broke a hand or leg from the fall? It was so not worth it, not when she didn't manage to get what she wanted.

She bit her lips and retreated back into the middle of the room. Footsteps pounded up the stairs causing Sakura's heart to lurch up to her throat. Was she found? How? Her mind was jumbled up by the many questions that she randomly thrown around and it was difficult to think clearly. She almost wept with relief that Rui had shut himself in his own room. That would give her some time to think and plan.

"What should I do? What should I do?" Sakura whispered to herself as she paced in the room. She needed to get out of the house before anyone caught her. She could handle Tanaka's sweet wife but Tanaka was a tough case and when Rui was thrown into the equation, things could get sticky. She was lucky to escape unscathed from her previous encounters with him alone but she wouldn't be so sure if it were to happen again. Her only hope was for Rui to remain in his room so she could make her escape.

Rui's room was just right next to where she currently was. She climbed onto the small bed in the corner of the room and pressed her ear against the wall to try to listen to what was going on in his room. She waited a few seconds and frowned when she heard nothing. She presumed that he was taking a nap. Great timing! She was about to turn the knob when Rui's door flung open and crashed loudly against the wall. She flinched away from the door as cold sweat poured down from her forehead—her escape was thwarted.

She heard a soft thud behind her and she jumped in fright. There was nothing behind her when she turned around. She wondered if she had imagined the sound because of her anxiety. The answer was revealed a scant second later when a small piece of rock flew through the open window and landed on the floor with another soft thud. She raised a brow in confusion. Another rock landed in the room and prompted her to peer out of the window in curiosity.

"Li-sensei?" Sakura murmured in surprise and managed to dodge another stray rock. She glared at him and he smiled back at her sheepishly. How did he know where she was?

"Did you miss me?" he shouted from below and Sakura's mouth literally dropped open in shock.

"Shut up!" Sakura hissed back, her eyes darting to the door worriedly. If Syaoran knew that she was here, he must have known that she had sneaked inside. Why did he have to attract attention? If she ever got caught there and manage to escape, she would make sure Syaoran would suffer terribly for it and she won't go easy on him just because he was her teacher.

"Come on! Tell me!"

"Can you shut up?" Sakura shouted down at him before running to the door to lock it. She didn't dare to lock it earlier for fear of being found out. Since Syaoran had already attracted enough attention, it would be impossible to hide. At least she could delay the inevitable.

"Hey!" Syaoran sounded a little impatient. When she didn't answer immediately, he shouted, "Muffin!"

"What?" Sakura picked up the stones that he threw into the room and hurled them back at him. He ducked and laughed at her actions. The sound of the doorknob turning alerted her to the fact that she was discovered. Rui pounded on the door when it didn't open. She praised herself for her quick thinking to lock the door before answering Syaoran, who was still creating a ruckus below. "I can't believe you are such an idiot."

"You wound me with your words, muffin," he replied with a grin. He lifted both of his hands in her direction. "Jump."

"Jump?" Sakura asked, not believing her ears. "You want me to jump from here?"

"Don't you trust me?"

"As a matter of a fact, I don't," Sakura answered immediately. She glanced over her back when the pounding on the door intensified. Biting her lips, she made a decision and lifted her legs out of the window and sat on the windowsill, bracing herself using the frames. "But unfortunately, you gave me no choice."

"Then jump. Trust me."

Sakura sucked in a huge gulp of air to steady herself. She jerked her gaze away from Syaoran when she heard a loud slam on the other side of the door. It seemed to her that Rui was making an attempt to break into the room using brute strength. "Wait till I get my hands on whoever you are!" she heard him mutter angrily. It won't take long before he burst into the room. Sakura had to make her jump immediately.

"Make sure you catch me or I'll make sure you regret it for the rest of your life," Sakura shouted down at him and pushed herself off the windowsill.

"What? Are you going to haunt me if I don't?" Syaoran teased.

"Not funny!" Sakura was close to screaming. Her heart was thudding painfully within her chest at the thought of making the impossible jump. "On the count of three..." she whispered to herself, closing her eyes to give her courage. "Three... Two..." A loud crash sounded in the room, followed by the angry bellow of Rui as Sakura shouted and jumped off at the same time, "One!"

Her eyes remained tightly shut as she plummeted as the force of gravity pulled her down. If she were to open her eyes, she would witness the sight of the ground coming closer to her. It would be a scary experience. Despite closing her eyes, she could still feel the wind rushing against her face as the ground loomed close.

She felt hands closing around her before she felt the impact of her body slamming into Syaoran's. Her eyes shot open in surprise as Syaoran stumbled backwards from her weight and both went sprawling onto the ground. For a few moments, Sakura lay on top of Syaoran as the wind was knocked out from her, totally stunned. Emerald eyes stared into clear amber eyes as she tried to even her breathing.

"See? There's nothing to worry about," Syaoran murmured. They were so close that Sakura could look directly into his eyes. His hands closed on her waist as he carefully shifted her off him. He helped her up before waving cheerfully to the small window on the second floor. Sakura didn't dare to look up. Rui would definitely recognize her if she did so and she didn't want to risk that in the event that he couldn't recognize her from her voice.

Sakura accepted his hand and he pulled her to her feet before the two of them hurried out of the house before Rui came bearing down on them. They were breathless by the time they reached Syaoran's house. Both of them tumbled through the doorway, landing on the ground inelegantly as they tried to regain their breath. A giggle erupted from Sakura before she could stop it. It grew into a fits of giggles a few seconds later when she recalled their crazy journey back. To be honest, she found that it was actually quite exciting and fun. She caught the amused look Syaoran sent her. "What?"

"You should laugh more often. You look really pretty that way," Syaoran grinned.

Sakura sucked in a breath. Was he... flirting with her? Was her teacher really flirting with her? This was crazy! "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Aww... muffin is shy!" Syaoran exclaimed and laughed when Sakura smacked him on his arm. "And she's showing me her _love_."

Sakura rolled her eyes and couldn't stop the blush that was blossoming on her cheeks. "You're crazy!"

Syaoran chuckled and stared at the ceiling. "That's right," he admitted. "I think I'm going crazy."

"By the way, what were you doing there?"

"Tanaka's place? I was following you."

Sakura snorted. "Stalker."

"I wasn't stalking you!" Syaoran protested. "I was trying to pull my naughty student back for her remedial class."

"Didn't I tell you I don't need it?" Sakura asked and frowned at him. Remedial class was a waste of time if she could catch up with the rest of her classmates. "I understand your class perfectly."

"Someone's confident."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I'm just telling you the truth. I wouldn't want the two of us to be wasting precious time over worthless things."

"Teaching you is my pleasure."

"I shall make sure you don't derive pleasure from that." Sakura scowled at him and his glib tongue. "Sweet talker."

"Be glad that you are the only recipient."

Sakura sat up and looked at him in surprise. "Me? Oh please, there must be some girls who are pinning for you out there somewhere."

Syaoran arched a brow at her suggestively. "Are you saying that I'm attractive?"

"W-what?" Sakura sputtered, taken aback by the sudden change in topic. "When did I ever say that?"

"You didn't say it but you implied it. So, am I attractive?"

Sakura considered his question for a moment and decided to take the safest approach. "You are my teacher, Li-sensei. We shouldn't have this talk. In fact, I shouldn't even be here. Once I get a job and save up sufficient money for my next rent, I'll be moving out from here. Or perhaps I could just stay at one of my classmates' place for a while."

"Why?"

"What why? Why are you asking me that? You should know the reason! You are my _teacher_ and teachers don't live with their students!"

"How do you know that? Do you have any other teacher friends?"

"I can't be bothered with you," Sakura said and went back to her room, locking the door behind her. She had only taken a few steps into her room when a knock sounded on her door. She gave an impatient sigh and stalked back to her door and flung it open, ready to shoot snide remarks at Syaoran for irritating her. To her surprise, no one was at the door. Instead, a small parcel lay on the floor, wrapped in brightly coloured paper. What was her teacher up to? She tore the wrapping paper away and almost wept with relief when she found that it was her family photograph. Moreover, the photograph was framed in a beautiful photo frame which he bought.

_Thank you, Li-sensei!_

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**To be continued**

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Turns out that I didn't have much time to write after all! Been out of the house for the past few days despite being away from work. I did manage to squeeze whatever little time I have to write a little and to edit chapter 5 before I post it. So, hope you enjoy reading the chapter!

In addition, thank you for the 45 reviews, 9 favs and 23 alerts! Thank you for reading Sensei, I Love You. These mean so much to me! Thank you! *bows*


	7. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP, not me.

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**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 6**

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Sakura sat on the swivel chair with her head on the writing desk as she stared at her family picture in front of her. Damn it! Why did the guy have to be so sweet? It was bad enough that he had bribed the picture out of Tanaka's hands. Why did he have to buy a freaking sweet looking photo frame for her? The thought of it made her heart swell again and she felt the sting of tears on her eyes. No one had done something like this for her ever since her family died in the car crash. It was a peculiar feeling that was somehow reawakened by Syaoran.

She buried her head into her hands and let out a groan of frustration. She thought she kept these feelings tucked away safely into the recess, so that she won't be reminded of the fact that there was no one else on Earth who would care about her.

"Damn him!" she muttered softly. It was already way past midnight and it seemed that she won't be getting any sleep since she was plagued with thoughts of her own family. With another curse, she pushed herself off the chair and trotted down to the kitchen with the intention of getting something to drink.

She was surprised to find that the lights in the living room were still on. Shouldn't Syaoran be sleeping? She tip-toed down the stairs, not wanting Syaoran to know that she was still awake. She came to a stop at the bottom of the stairs and took in the scene before her—Syaoran was sitting on the by the coffee table on the carpeted floor, busying typing and clicking away on his laptop. He had his headphones on and Sakura presumed he was gaming. "Typical guy," she whispered. With a nonchalant shrug, she ignored him and proceeded to the kitchen to make a warm drink for herself.

She rummaged his kitchen and only managed to find hot chocolate so she made that for herself. She also made another drink for Syaoran since he was still up. She might as well stay up with him since she had nothing to do. He didn't notice her presence until she placed the mug beside his laptop. She smiled when he jerked back in surprise, obviously not expecting her. He slid his headphones down to his neck immediately and looked up at her inquiringly. "Aren't you sleeping?"

Sakura pointed to the steaming mug in her hand. "Obviously not," she replied and proceeded to sit down beside him on the carpet. "What are you doing? Gaming?"

Syaoran snorted. "Those are for kids. I'm working."

"Working? It's already so late."

Syaoran shrugged and took a sip of his drink. He let out a contented sigh and carefully placed the mug back on the coffee table. "I need this for tomorrow's lesson. You don't think I actually teach whatever crap that I have thought out of thin air in lesson, do you?"

Sakura flushed crimson and tried to hide her face behind the mug in her hands. Syaoran's eyes narrowed at her. "Um… Not really…"

"What kind of answer is that?" Syaoran asked and resumed his typing. He seemed to be creating some English passage and listening to some reference at the same time. Sakura leaned over to have a better look as she was curious. Syaoran did not object and just let her watch as she sipped her drink. "So, why are you still up?"

"I can't sleep," Sakura admitted with a sigh.

"Because?"

"I don't know. I just can't sleep," Sakura replied, not wanting to tell him the truth about what was keeping her awake. She didn't want to spill her deepest thoughts to anyone; she didn't want to be comfortable to anyone, not when they could be taken away from her brutally.

"Well, it seems that I won't be sleeping any time soon," Syaoran remarked, sending her a grin. "You are most welcome to join me, of course. I don't mind a company as long as you don't interrupt what I'm doing."

Sakura snorted. "Do you think I'm that inconsiderate?"

"Who knows? Probably you can't help yourself but to steal a kiss from me, the oh-so-charming prince."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "What?" She was lucky she wasn't drinking when he said that—she would have spilled her drink all over his laptop. "You must be joking!"

Syaoran shot her an injured look. "What? Can't I think that I'm some character in a fairytale? I thought you girls like to fantasize yourselves as some princesses from a faraway land?"

"I'm not some damsel in distress," Sakura said plainly, irked that he would think so. "And I don't need any prince charming. I'll be fine on my own."

"Right…" Syaoran drawled out, his tone suggesting that he didn't believe her. However, she was thankful that he remained silent after that.

Sakura scooted nearer to him to see what he was doing clearly. She read alongside him and was immediately bored by the long passages. She wondered how he was able to stand reading long text for so long. Sitting beside him was a pleasant experience. His sudden quiet demeanor charmed her. Moreover, he did not put his headphones back as if he wanted to listen to her in the event that she did talk. Sakura smiled at the thought alone. It was a long time since any one was really interested in talking to her. Her eyes widened in surprise when Syaoran suddenly slid the headphones onto her ears and soothing piano music filled her ears. He grinned at her before turning back to work on his work. She leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes to enjoy the selection of music that he had chosen. This was a pleasant feeling indeed.

Sakura knew it was morning the moment she woke up from her slumber but refused to open her eyes. She'd rather sleep in than go to school and face her classmates seeing the way they reacted to her when she went back the day before. No one even bothered to speak to her but she knew they were all talking about her behind her back. Besides, there was no reason for her to attend classes, not when working outside provided her with the funds she needed. She snuggled further beneath her cover and froze when she felt a movement beside her.

Her eyelids flew open and did a double take when she found herself staring at Syaoran's chest. To her horror, she was actually hugging him around his waist loosely. They were slumped against the sofa with her head cushioned against his broad shoulder. She gasped when his hand tightened on her waist, pulling her closer to him.

His eyelids fluttered open slowly and Sakura suddenly marveled at how long his eyelashes were. She was mesmerized. "Good morning, muffin," he greeted with a slow grin, causing her pulse to spike. Why did he have such an effect on her? He was her teacher, for goodness sake!

"G-good morning," Sakura stammered, feeling a little self-conscious as she scooted away from Syaoran. "I'm so sorry I fell asleep!" she bowed her head from her seated position. "It must be very uncomfortable for you to sleep in that position." Sakura's face burned at the thought of sleeping in her teacher's arms all night. How could she fall asleep like that?

Syaoran chuckled as he stretched himself, wincing slightly as the feeling of pins and needles rushed through his arm, the one which Sakura was laying on for the whole night. "Don't worry about it. It feels good to have a human bolster for a change anyway. Want to do it again tonight in the comfort of my bed?"

Sakura gaped. "Are you crazy?"

"I assure you that I am a hundred percent serious," Syaoran replied. "I will be happy to oblige."

"I can't believe this," Sakura muttered. The urge to whack him was so great that she had to retreat back into her room so that she would not be able to do him bodily harm. "Idiot."

"You better hurry or we'll both be late for school!" Syaoran called out as he walked past her room to get to his. "You wouldn't want everyone to see the two of us walk in together."

Sakura's face paled at the thought of being found out. Actually, it was no big deal for her. So what if she was staying with her teacher? If she was ever found out, she could just quit school totally and that would be ideal for her. Syaoran, however, was a totally different thing altogether. She couldn't implicate him in whatever she was going through. She couldn't let him quit his job because of her—she would never live down to that.

She changed into her school uniform in record time and adjusted her ribbon bow frantically as she stepped out of the room. She almost crashed head on into Syaoran. "Cereal for breakfast?" he asked as he dragged her downstairs as if she would run away if he didn't do so. "I'm afraid I only have that for today."

"Anything's fine."

He deposited her on one of the dining chairs and proceeded to the cupboards to pour some cereal for her. She watched as he opened the fridge and poured some fresh milk for her while he brewed some coffee for himself. She thanked him as he placed the bowl of cereal in front of her and passed her the glass of milk.

"So… for the remedial class…"

Sakura groaned. "Aren't we over this already?"

"Obviously not! You have missed your lessons with me and so you must make up for them."

"The other teachers didn't make me go for remedial classes!" Sakura protested.

"Well, I'm not them. I insist that you have remedial classes with me."

Sakura pouted and shoved another spoonful of cereal into her mouth while she contemplated her retort. "Isn't it good enough that I'm attending classes now?"

Syaoran tilted his head a little to the side as he eyed her suspiciously. "And today is only the second day that you are going to go to school. What if you decide to skip classes again for work?"

Sakura bit her lips. How did Syaoran know her so well? She still hasn't given up on finding another job so that she could look for a room to rent and not stay with him. Satisfied with the guilty look on her face, Syaoran pushed himself away from the table and grabbed a cup of freshly brewed coffee from his coffee maker. She waited until he was seated before asking, "So… If I promise not to work, you'll let me off from this remedial class?"

"Maybe?"

Talking to him was exhausting when he refused to go straight to answer her question directly. Sakura scowled. "You are not answering my question."

"And you didn't answer mine too so that's fair."

"Fine. I'll not work when there's school," Sakura said, trying to reach a compromise. At least she would have some income if she worked on weekends, rather than not working at all. "Is that fine with you?"

"Hmm… That's sounds… good to me but don't think it will be easy." Syaoran smirked as he leaned forward. "You will have to keep up with your grades or I'm going to pull you out from your job again and even break the secret to the principal."

Sakura gulped. She didn't realize that Syaoran would be making demands in exchange for allowing her to work over the weekends. "Keep up with my grades? What kind of grades are you looking for?"

"An A for all subjects."

"Impossible!" She had missed a lot of classes for other subjects and she needed to work really hard to keep up with the classes. Keeping up with English class was pretty easy because she was exposed to the language since young. Her father often bought her English books in the past since she enjoyed reading them. She can't say the same for the rest of the subjects.

"Well, in that case you can forget about working," Syaoran stated. "Low grades and you'll be exposed."

"No chance at all? I've lagged way behind for the rest of my classes. Please?" Sakura pleaded.

"I'm not that heartless, muffin," he said. "A month should be enough for you to catch up. We'll see your results for the next examination period."

One month. One agonizing month of hellish catching up she had to endure. "Fine." Say goodbye to beauty sleep.

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**To be continued**

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How's the surprise update? I will be really busy next week so I'm not sure if I'll be able to update. I've uploaded this chapter just in case I can't make it next week. Hope you enjoyed it!

Thank you so much for reading!


	8. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP, not me.

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**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 7**

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Sakura could not afford to fall asleep in class. If only she could slap herself awake without attracting the attention of her curious classmates. Words had gone round saying that she has attended classes like a good little girl. Obviously, they had expected her to skip school again since that was the normal thing for her to do. However, she would have to disappoint them this time round.

The mathematical formula on the blackboard did not make any sense to her and the way her teacher was teaching wasn't helping either. She felt as if she was lectured by a stiff robot which only knew how to repeat its words again and again. She was beginning to regret agreeing to the arrangement with Syaoran that morning—she wasn't feeling very confident of aceing all her subjects in one month. That was crazy!

This was definitely going to be a long day.

Sakura was thankful for the lunch break bell that rang loudly throughout the school. She slumped against her table tiredly, not caring about the disapproving looks the teacher was giving her. Her energy level was dropping since she didn't have enough rest the day before. Should she thank Syaoran for that? Perhaps she should since it was his fault after all.

Even though she was hungry, she made no move to head towards the convenient store in the school to grab some food. She would rather spend the time to catch some much needed sleep. A full hour's rest should be enough to last her through the rest of the classes.

A tap sounded on her table and she felt the vibrations on her cheek. Stifling a groan, Sakura looked up and found a female student standing by her table with a piece of folded paper in her hand. "I was told to pass this to you," she said and gently placed the paper on her table. Sakura idly wondered who the girl was as she made her exit. No names came into her mind. She probably didn't know who she was. Shrugging, she pulled her heavy hands from her side and caught the piece of paper before it flew away from her table from the breeze coming in front the window on her left.

Sakura frowned at the words on the note. She stood up and paused when all the eyes of her classmates swirled to her. She gave them a shrug before she walked towards the exit, conscious of the eyes that were on her. What was with all these classmates?

She glared at the teachers' office sign above the door. What on Earth could he possibly want from her that it was so urgent he had to send a student after her. Wasn't he afraid that they would be found out and he would lose his job? That teacher was really crazy!

"Sorry to disturb," Sakura said as she slid the door open. Her eyes automatically scanned the room for Syaoran as she wasn't sure where his table was. That idiot teacher was so happy to see her that he literally jumped up from his seat and waved to her excitedly. Sakura's frown intensified as she walked to him.

"There you are, Kinomoto-san," Syaoran chirped. "I was thinking that you must have missed the note or something since you are running late."

"What do you want?" Sakura whispered, eyeing the teachers around them nervously.

"What do you mean by that?" Syaoran asked, blinking at her innocently.

"Why did you call me to the teachers' office?"

He placed a small package wrapped in a piece of cloth on his table and he slid it nearer to Sakura. "I believe you dropped this earlier."

"I dropped that?" Sakura asked, surprised. When did she drop that? Wait… She didn't even know what that was! "There must have been a mistake, Li-sensei."

"No! I'm really sure it's yours," he countered. When Sakura made no move to pick it up, Syaoran took the package from his table and placed it in her hands. It was a little warm to touch and Sakura arched a brow at him curiously. "You can return to your class now."

Sakura didn't move an inch and just continued staring at the box in her hands. "Li-sensei?" He was acting kind of weird.

He made a clucking sound with his tongue and ushered Sakura out of the office. "Finish everything," he said and slid the door shut at her face.

"Why won't he listen to me?" Sakura wondered aloud, frowning at the closed door. "This doesn't even belong to me. Finish what?" She was not about to go knocking on the door again. Figuring that she would return whatever it was to him when they went back home, Sakura returned to her class. She stared at the package on her table, wondering what was in it. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to take a look."

She unwound the knot on top of the parcel and unfurled the cloth to reveal a small lunch box. She realized that he had actually meant to pass the lunch box to her, knowing that she wouldn't have anything to eat for lunch. A confused frown marred her forehead as she tried to think of how he managed to make lunch for her. She didn't remember seeing him preparing it in the kitchen when she was having a breakfast. Moreover, both of them woke up at about the same time and there wasn't that much time for him to cook. How did he manage to prepare lunch for her then? Ah heck, he probably bought it from the convenient store and packed it into the lunch box so that he could pass it to her without suspicion. Whatever it was, she was ever grateful.

Her grumbling stomach reminded her that she hadn't eaten anything since her breakfast. The aroma of eggs wafted into her nose and her mouth watered instantly. She devoured her lunch within minutes and was feeling extremely satisfied with her heavy lunch.

She was equipped with the necessary energy to last her throughout the afternoon class! Hurray for that!

Sakura dashed across the corridor leading to the lockers at the school entrance, hoping to catch up with her one and only close friend, who also happened to have news about job openings almost everywhere. Till now, Sakura didn't know how her friend managed to know so much even though there was no need for her friend to work.

Her target was standing alone by the gates looking ahead at the busy road. She couldn't believe that luck was on her side. Sakura hurried over and was almost running in her haste to get to her. "Tomoyo-chan!" she called out, dismayed to see an elegant looking car stopping right in front of her friend and that she was about to hop into it.

Wavy black hair cascaded down Tomoyo's shoulders and back as she whirled around upon hearing her name. Her eyes widened when she caught sight of Sakura. Beaming happily, she stepped back onto the curb and waited for her friend to catch up.

"It's been so long! I thought you don't want to come to school anymore." Tomoyo pouted, her full lips glistened with lip gloss. Sakura wondered why she didn't ever get caught in school. Why did she put on make-up in the first place? She asked the question once a long time ago. Tomoyo had replied saying that it was required as part of her image. Sakura couldn't understand then and still couldn't get it now.

"I was busy with work," Sakura explained before crushing her friend in a tight hug. "Lots of things happened since then."

Tomoyo turned solemn. "It must be hard on you. You know, you could always stay at my place. You'll not have to worry about paying expensive rental for a miserable small room."

"I can't possibly stay at your house!" Sakura exclaimed, recalling how extravagant Tomoyo's house was. The Daidouji was super rich and her parents weren't too happy when Sakura dropped by to have fun with Tomoyo. It was as if they disapproved of Tomoyo's choice of friend. Sakura stopped going over since there so as not to put her friend in a difficult position. "And it is really a good practice for me to live by myself. I need to get used to taking care of myself after all."

"But you are pushing yourself too hard, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo grumbled and glared at a bodyguard who was standing far too close for her comfort. Sakura knew her friend hated having bodyguards following her everywhere because they sort of invaded her privacy and causing many people to look at her with strange expressions. No one dared to venture close to Tomoyo for fear of her bodyguards but Sakura knew better. "And you have gotten a little thinner."

Sakura laughed as she looked down at her body. "Thin? I thought I could use a little help to get rid of this excess stuff here," she said as she pinched her side.

Tomoyo frowned and shook her head. "You are not even fat, Sakura-chan. You are already very slim. Are you trying to become those undernourished models on the magazines? That isn't healthy, you know."

"I'll be all right. A job keeps me occupied instead of thinking non-stop. By the way, Tomoyo-chan, I need your help again."

"Another job?" Tomoyo screeched and Sakura had to wince at the unladylike sound coming out from the prim and proper girl. "Not again!"

"No! I'm not getting an additional job," Sakura clarified immediately. "I lost all my current jobs so now I need to get a new one. I need to fill my stomach, right?"

"You lost all your jobs?" Tomoyo asked and sounded as if she didn't believe Sakura. "How?"

Letting out an irritated sigh at the thought of the source of all her problems, Sakura replied, "It's a long story and I'm not able to tell you about it right now. However, I will definitely tell you the moment I can."

Tomoyo frowned, stepping forward to touch Sakura's forearm gently. "Are you in some sort of trouble?"

"Trouble?" Sakura laughed but it was humorless. "I'm always in trouble, Tomoyo-chan but I'll live with it. I'm a survivor and this is nothing to me. I'll survive through everything that are thrown at me."

"If you really need any help, don't be afraid to ask," Tomoyo said. "I'll always be more than happy to help you."

Sakura smiled at her friend gratefully. "So... any job openings anywhere?"

"I'm sure my mother will have a few job openings in some of her boutique stores or restaurants. I'll ask around for you," Tomoyo promised, looking a little cheerful since Sakura had requested for her help. Well, it was good to have Tomoyo as a friend since her family owned a super big business corporation and that meant lots of job openings everywhere. That was not the reason for befriending her-Tomoyo truly cared about her and she wanted to reciprocate the feeling. She was her only friend left after her accident and she didn't want to lose her.

"And... I actually made a deal with someone..." Sakura hesitated when she saw Tomoyo's confused frown. "I promised that I can only work on weekends."

"That shouldn't be a problem since there's a bigger crowd over the weekends for both the boutiques and restaurants."

"Daidouji-sama," a female bodyguard interrupted them. Tomoyo rolled her eyes in irritation and gave Sakura a look that told her what she felt about having a horde of bodyguards following her everywhere. "It's getting late."

"But I'm talking with my friend," Tomoyo protested as she pressed closer to Sakura. "Can't I hang out with her in private?"

"You are putting me in a difficult position, Daidouji-sama," the bodyguard said apologetically. "Your mother gave us specific instructions to bring you home straight after school."

"My mother doesn't have a life," Tomoyo muttered under her breath, causing Sakura to giggle at her friend's antics. She knew how close her friend was to her mother and despite that close relationship, Sakura was inwardly happy that she put her above her mother.

"You probably should go before your mother goes all ballistic on me for detaining you." Sakura grinned at the image that she had created. Daidouji Sonomi could totally do that if needed. "Besides, she's doing it for your own good. After all, you are the heir to the humongous Daidouji Corporation. Who knows what kind of bad guys are out here waiting to snare you in hopes of making big money."

Tomoyo made a disgusted face at her. "And to think I wanted to spend more time with you."

"There's always another place and time for this," Sakura soothed. "But this is definitely not the time."

"I guess you're right..." Tomoyo said. She sighed before pulling Sakura for a hug. "I'll let you know once I get a job for you. I'll find an easy and less stressful one."

Sakura hugged her friend back, patting Tomoyo on the back. "Thanks, Tomoyo-chan. You're a saint!"

Tomoyo chuckled. "Sweet talker."

Grinning, Sakura gave Tomoyo a gentle shove towards her car to get her moving. Who knew what Sonomi would do when she found that her daughter was talking to someone who was unworthy to be their friend.

She waved goodbye to her friend and stood by the curb for a few more moments to watch the car disappear down the busy road. She couldn't help but feel a little lonely. An unexpected tap on the shoulder startled her and she whirled around to find a face grinning at her.

"What are you doing by the school gates? Aren't you supposed to go home?" Syaoran asked. He carried a briefcase in his hand and looked ready to call it a day at work. Sakura opened a mouth to reply but Syaoran crooked a finger at her, silently telling her to follow him. She frowned at his retreating back. _What is he up to?_

* * *

__**To be continued**

* * *

Sorry for the delay in posting! Was busy with work the entire week and I spent the whole of Saturday dozing off and just snuggling in my bed. (Yes, I'm that lazy). Thanks for reading!

By the way, I'm actually making plans for a new fic! But I'll finish off with Sensei, I Love You first so that I have some time to concentrate on the new one. I'm hoping to finish the whole fic before started to upload each chapters 'coz I have the tendency to miss out crucial linkages. *sigh* In case any one is curious, I'm currently writing Sensei, I Love You chapter 24! *grins*


	9. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP, not me.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 8**

* * *

"So... What's your purpose of dragging me here?" Sakura asked, a little irritated by her handsome grinning homeroom teacher sitting across the table. She darted her gaze around the busy cafe uneasily, jumping nervously when the door opened and new customers streamed in. "Aren't you afraid that someone might recognize us?"

Syaoran slapped on the table and chuckled loudly. Sakura's frown intensified as she glared at him, silently warning him to keep it down or he would attract attention to them. "This is funny! Why are you so afraid of people catching us together?"

"I used to think that you are an idiot," Sakura spat. "But now I think that you are really _stupid_. Really."

"Pfft... I may be stupid as you have said but I'm stupidly charming," Syaoran said, striking a pose as if there were paparazzi taking pictures of him as if he was some celebrity. He even waved to the people outside the cafe through the glass window.

Sakura felt like banging her head again the table. How did she end up with someone like him who didn't understand the importance of secrecy? "This is so not real," she grumbled unhappily. "This is a dream and I'll wake up from it soon. I can't take this anymore..."

"This is only the beginning, muffin."

Sakura's head swung up within a microsecond and her eyes was shooting knives at him. "Don't call me muffin."

Syaoran shrugged as he leaned back against the cushioned chair. "Then what should I call you? _Sakura_?"

Her eyes widened at how easily her name spilled from his mouth and couldn't suppress a shudder that wrecked through her body. No one called her simply by her name nowadays and it was weird to hear it from _his_ mouth. "Not that either."

"What? You don't like your name?"

"Don't mock me," Sakura hissed as she stood up hastily. "Stop mocking me!"

Syaoran raised both his hands, palms out, in surrender. "All right—I get it. I went overboard and I'm sorry about it. Forgive me?" He shot her a puppy-eye look which no doubt would have left other girls swooning at his feet but Sakura caught herself at the last second and transformed her expression into a mighty glare. "I'm hungry after a long day at work... I didn't have my lunch so can we have an early dinner instead?"

"But you bought me lunch... and you should buy one for yourself!"

A waitress came over to their table, ready to take their order. Syaoran ordered omelette curry rice for the both of them and iced milk tea for Sakura. Sakura's arched her brow in surprise. How did he know what her favourite food and drink was? Syaoran thanked the waitress politely and handed the menu back to her so that Sakura wouldn't have a chance to take a peek at the price. By the look of the interior design of the cafe, the items wouldn't be cheap.

"How did you..." Sakura started to ask but stopped midway. She waved her question away. "Nevermind, it's nothing."

"What?" Syaoran asked, leaning forward with his arms on the table, eager to hear what Sakura wanted to ask.

"I said it was nothing," she snapped and regretted her harsh words immediately. Syaoran had done nothing but be kind to her and didn't deserve her nasty attitude. "I'm sorry."

"You must have had a long day too," Syaoran said with a slight smile and Sakura knew the two of them were back to normal. It was tiring to argue with him too.

"You have no idea," Sakura agreed. "It's just so weird not having a job. I guess I'm still not used to being jobless."

"Don't tell me that you are looking for a job already."

"I guess nothing escapes your eyes. Yes, I started looking around for one and yes, I remember the agreement I made with you—weekends only."

"And don't forget your grades," Syaoran reminded, wagging a finger at her.

"Of course I didn't! And I'm not planning to skip school either so you should be happy about it."

Syaoran nodded his head in approval. "Good! That's my girl."

Sakura grabbed a napkin on the table and threw it at him. He laughed when it landed nowhere near its target. "Stop saying weird stuff!"

"Weird stuff?" Syaoran asked and pushed himself out of his seat and leaned forward so close to Sakura's face that she had to lean back to put some distance between them. It was useless. Syaoran's lanky body allowed him to lean across the table without any problem. "What weird stuff?"

Sakura's breath hitched at the nearness and shook her head nervously. When he didn't move, she put her small hands on his shoulders and gave a hard shove and groaned in frustration when he didn't even balk. Syaoran chuckled at her vain attempt and sneaked a quick kiss on her cheek just to see what her reaction would be. Of course colour blossomed on her cheeks immediately as she squeaked and covered the side of her cheek which he had kissed. "Li-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed, aghast at the turn of events. She was dismayed when her sudden outburst had caught the attention of most of the diners and they were giving them weird looks. A teacher and his student alone in the cafe? That would be just the fodder needed for gossip to spread. Sakura could feel the tears stinging her eyes as panic rose to levels beyond her control. Why did he have to do that?

Syaoran knew he had gone overboard with that particular action but it was fun to see how Sakura reacted to it. Her face was always full of expression and it was a delight to watch the transformation. He did not expect her to burst into tears instead.

"You are so mean!" Sakura sobbed and she brushed away the angry tears. "I hate you!"

Syaoran was flustered by the turn of events and he tried to apologize. Sakura only looked down at her lap and continued to sniffle miserably. There was nowhere else she could run to since all her belongings were at Syaoran's house and she knew it was pointless to run away from him. What was the use when she still had to crawl back to his house at the end of the day?

"Hey... muffin?" Syaoran called out gently over Sakura's quiet sniffling. Her tensed shoulders were the only indication that she heard him. He let out a sigh when she ignored him. It pinched his heart to see her tears dripping down from her face. Ignoring the weird looks the customers were throwing at him, Syaoran slid out of his seat and went to Sakura's side and dropped onto the empty chair beside her. "Hey..."

Sakura slanted her teary gaze up at him and scooted further away from him. It was as if she was pushing him away on purpose. She bit her lips as she continued to stare at the folded hands on her lap. She was determined to ignore him for the rest of the day until he realized that secrecy was extremely important to them if he wanted to keep his teaching job.

A hand on her chin forced her to turn her face up to look at him. She tried to jerk away from his hold but he cupped her cheeks with both his large hands. His thumbs brushed away the droplets of tears that clung to her cheeks so gently that she was mesmerized. What surprised her was that he closed the distance between them to press a quick kiss to her forehead before pulling her into a hug.

"I don't care if people finds out about us," Syaoran explained, answering Sakura's unspoken fear. "It is not as if we are doing something wrong. You are just living with me, that's all. You have nothing to be afraid of."

"But... if people finds out about me staying at your place, won't you be implicated?" Sakura asked, still in Syaoran's embrace. "You'd be asked to quit teaching."

"If it is all that's required to protect you, I'm willing to risk it," Syaoran said solemnly and gently pried himself away from Sakura. "I swear."

The waitress came with their order and was frowning at Sakura. However, her scowl turned into a sweet smile when she turned and placed Syaoran's plate in front of him. "Enjoy your meal," she purred and sashayed away.

Syaoran shook his head ruefully at the waitress before turning his attention back to Sakura. He handed a napkin to Sakura and instructed her to blow her nose. Feeling shy out of a sudden, she tried to do it in the quietest manner ever and failed miserably. Syaoran chuckled at her expression as he pushed Sakura's plate towards her and passed her the cutlery. "This cafe is famous for its curry omelette rice. I hope you like it," he said. Sakura nodded her head and tucked into her meal, squealing in delight as the flavour burst within her mouth.

"It's delicious!" Sakura exclaimed, her earlier unease forgotten as she revelled in her food. "How did they make it so yummy?"

Syaoran chuckled. "Secret recipe?"

Sakura's eyes grew wide at the idea of a secret recipe. "If only I know how to cook delicious food like this. Unfortunately, my cooking skills are only passable if and only if I'm lucky."

"I seriously wonder how you manage all these months," Syaoran remarked and froze when he realized that he had accidentally made Sakura recall the brutal reality of her family's accident. "I take that back... I..."

"It's all right. It doesn't affect me anymore now. I guess I'm already used to being alone on my own."

"You are not alone," Syaoran argued. "You have me now."

"Only until I manage to find a room to rent," she added. Syaoran frowned at the idea of Sakura living on her own and facing people like Rui and Tanaka. "Besides, it wouldn't be good if people do actually find out that we are living together unchaperoned."

"What? Which era are you living in now?" Syaoran teased.

"Long ago?" Sakura suggested and burst into laughter, causing Syaoran to suck in a quick breath. Realizing that he had gone quiet, Sakura stopped laughing and looked up at him. "What?"

That seemed to pull Syaoran out of his reverie. He cleared his throat with a loud cough and turned to his food. "Nothing," he muttered and urged Sakura to have more food.

"Time to get down to work!" Sakura said as she pulled out textbooks after textbooks from her bag and her tiny bookshelf provided by Syaoran. The bookshelf was a useful tool for keeping her belongings. It wasn't too big, just reaching to Sakura's hip and consisted of two sections-an upper and lower shelf both without a cupboard door.

Grabbing her Calculus book, Sakura jumped onto her bed and flipped to the page which her teacher had assigned them as homework. However, she had to start way before the assigned pages because she had missed a lot of lessons. She regretted not attending classes because she had lots to catch up with at the moment and it was actually suffocating her. No one in the class offered to coach her in her studies. _Guess it was my fault for skipping classes..._

A knock sounded on the door a second before the door knob turned and Syaoran stepped in holding a tray in his palm. Sakura straightened up from her prone position on the bed and looked at him inquiringly.

"Supper," he answered, placing the tray of sandwiches onto her lap. "Eat up and have lots of energy to continue with your studies."

Before Sakura even had a chance to thank him, he was out of her room, shutting the door gently behind him. Sakura was bewildered. Why was he being so nice to her when it was obvious to her that he thought of her as nothing but her student. She hoped she was over-thinking about the whole situation. If not, things were going to get more difficult in the days to come.

Perhaps she was developing feelings for her crazy, stupid and idiot homeroom teacher.

And she was falling hard.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

Sorry for the delay! Was helping my mum with some baking the whole day and then had a super bad headache after that and headed straight to bed. Thanks for all your reviews, favorites, follows and alerts! *hearts* Those are real motivation for me. :)


	10. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP, not me.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 9**

* * *

A shrill noise pierced the blessed silence in the room and Sakura shifted under the covers, pulled the covers beyond her head in hope of blocking out the sound. The loud ring of her cell phone continued to blast with no hint of stopping anything soon. With a loud groan, Sakura tossed her covers aside and plucked her cell phone from the small bedside table, glaring at the name on her display. She spent the whole night revising studiously for the subjects that she had missed out, especially Calculus, and didn't get to sleep till four in the morning. She was hoping that she could sleep in over the weekend.

"Good morning, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura greeted and stifled a yawn. Apparently three hours of sleep wasn't enough for her. She could feel herself getting old already. Coffee would be good to give her the instant energy boost throughout the whole day.

"Sakura-chan! I've found you a job!" Tomoyo squealed on the other line. "The manager just responded to me and she's such a nice lady."

Screw coffee. That was just what she needed and she was wide awake in the next instant. "Really?" she breathed, unable to believe her ears. "What kind of job is it? When do I start?"

"Today at 9 A.M. I'm not sure if you are comfortable with it… It's actually a cosplay café and it's very near to our school… I can always look for another suitable job for you if you are not up to it."

Sakura considered it for a moment. Cosplay café? It sounded pretty fun to her but its proximity to the school was a big problem to her. Although it was only on weekends, chances of her encountering a schoolmate were pretty high. It was too risky but beggars can't be choosers. She needed a job and there was one available for her. "I'll take it."

"You sure?" Tomoyo asked, sounding a little worried now. "You are not afraid of being found out?"

Sakura shrugged and then realized that Tomoyo couldn't see her on the phone. "I'll deal with it when the problem arises. Right now, I really need a job to pay for my meals. Besides, it will be better for me if I were to be caught and tossed out of school."

"Sakura-chan! How could you say that?" Tomoyo exclaimed angrily. "No matter what you still have to go through high school and then university if you want to earn big bucks in the future! What good will it do to you if you couldn't even get through high school? Are you going to do waitressing for the rest of your life?"

"I'll try to find a rich man and marry him?" Sakura suggested teasingly, earning herself a big sigh from her best friend. "What? Can't I do that? Then I don't have to go through the long hours at school."

"Be realistic, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo admonished. "It's difficult to find a good guy nowadays and a rich one at that."

_A good guy? There's one in the house at the moment,_ Sakura thought with a grin. _And he seemed pretty rich to be able to afford a house like this_. _Too bad he's my teacher._

"I'll just find a way to survive on my on in the worst case scenario," Sakura said. "Trust me with my survival instincts."

"Right. Anyway, be there by 9 and look for the café manager, Junko-san," Tomoyo reminded. "She's one of the nicest ladies I have ever met so be nice to her."

Sakura grunted. "When have I ever been bad to anyone?"

"Well, people can change right?" Tomoyo said. "And I don't want to hear any silly things from you about marrying a rich man. It isn't funny."

"Yes, madam!"

When the call ended, Sakura stood up and stretched her lethargic body before going downstairs to make a simple breakfast of toast and coffee. She still had some time to spare before she had to show up at the café and if she just lay down on her bed again, she knew she would doze off immediately.

"Good morning, muffin!" Syaoran greeted cheerfully from the kitchen the moment she stepped into it. Her eyes took in the apron that was tied to his body and she had a hide an amused grin. "What? Never see a handsome guy like me before?"

"Oh please, spare me the drama," Sakura retorted as she stepped beside him, eyeing what seemed like delicious scrambled eggs. "Yum."

"Stop drooling all over me," Syaoran teased and chuckled at her harassed expression. He took in her rumpled form and grinned at the state her messy hair was in. Giving in to his impulse, he leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek and looked smug when she squeaked and jumped back in surprise.

"What's that for?" she asked, her eyes growing wide and shooting accusing gazes at him.

"A good morning kiss from me to you," he replied nonchalantly, turning his attention back to the stove. "Can I get one too?"

"No way!"

"Aww… That's too bad then…" he drawled before giving her a sexy wink. "But I'll definitely get one from you sooner or later. No girls can resist me."

"Ew!" Sakura blanched, covering her ears and making a mad dash out of the kitchen. "Pedophile!"

Syaoran almost dropped his spatula. It took him a moment to recover from her verbal attack. "Hey, I'm not that old!" He was still grumbling when he sat the breakfast on the dining table. Sakura was eager anticipating what he had prepared. "I'm only a few years older than you, you know?"

"Whatever! Can I please have some of your eggs?" Sakura pleaded, almost banging her fists on the table in anticipation.

Syaoran sighed and pushed a plate towards her and she accepted it eagerly. "Why are you so early today? There isn't any class on Sunday."

"Job," Sakura replied in between mouthful of eggs. Syaoran chuckled as she sputtered and he hurriedly poured a glass of milk from the refrigerator for her. She downed it within mere seconds. "Tomoyo-chan got me a job and I'm starting today."

"Where?"

"I'm not telling you lest you stalk me over there and cost me my job again," she spat, sticking out her tongue at him.

"Deep down in your heart, you knew it wasn't my fault. I can't help but dazzle girls everywhere I go, you included."

If there was any milk left in her glass, she would have flung it all at him for his smugness. Shaking her head, she ignored him and finished the rest of her eggs before washing her plates and utensils at the sink. "Right, dazzling," Sakura murmured as she thought about Syaoran even though he was just a few feet away. She couldn't help but agree with what he had said. _Dazzling…_

"So…" Syaoran said and he sounded as if he was just right behind her. She whirled around and her face smacked into Syaoran's hard chest. She had to hold the edge of the sink to steady herself as she stared at him at such close proximity. "Where will you be working?" he asked huskily and Sakura could feel herself drowning in his voice. She didn't even realize that he had trapped her within his arms that were braced on either side of her on the edge of the sink. There was no way she could escape him.

"W-what?" Sakura squeaked, hoping he would move away before she literally swooned at his feet. Who knew that her idiot homeroom teacher could have such an effect on her.

"Where are you working?" Syaoran repeated softly in her ear, moving closer to her. Sakura shuddered and felt a little light-headed.

"A c-cosplay café…"

"Where?"

"Near the school," she replied dreamily. Her hands ached to close around his body. In fact, they were already creeping towards him unknowingly but she caught herself at the last moment before she pressed her body against him. She woke up from her dreamy state as if she was splashed by a big pail of ice water. Gasping loudly, she shoved hard against Syaoran.

"I'll see you later," Syaoran said. He was smirking at her now, clearly pleased that he had forced the information out of her.

"Is this how a homeroom teacher behaves?" Sakura shouted at his retreating back. He chuckled as he went upstairs. And great, he had just left his dirty dishes for her to wash. What a wretched man! She turned solemn the moment he disappeared from view and leaned against the sink counter weakly. She pressed a hand to her cheek where she could feel his breath earlier. That has confirmed one thing—she was definitely falling for him. Hard.

Sakura knew she shouldn't stay here any longer but somehow, she couldn't bear to make herself pack and stuff and make a run for it. Besides, she was penniless and couldn't even afford a decent meal for herself. She'd just stay for a little while longer. Then, she will make herself leave. She made that promise to herself. Just one more month.

Junko was indeed a nice lady just as Tomoyo has described to her over the phone. She was slightly plump in her late forties and streaks of grey were present in her straight shoulder length hair. Sakura was totally charmed by her motherly smile and she couldn't help but think about her own mother whenever she saw Junko.

"You must be the girl Tomoyo-san spoke to me about," Junko said, guiding Sakura through the door that labeled "Staff Only". "She highly recommended you for the job and I need someone to fill in the vacancy urgently. I hope you understand what kind of job you are into."

Sakura nodded. "Cosplay café," she answered. She saw the signboard at the entrance as well as many pictures pasted on the mini display board on the door. This was definitely a café for those cosplay addicts.

Junko smiled again. "That's right. I'm actually a fan as well but unfortunately for me, I'm too old for such things that are meant for youths like you. My children are into this as well and that's why I decided to open up this café with the help of Daidouji-sama of course. I'm sure you will be able to adapt in no time. Are you a big fan of anime or cosplay, Kinomoto-san?"

Sakura shook her head regretfully. There was no time in her schedule for entertainment time since she was always working. By the time she got home, she was already too tired to do anything else but bathe before sleeping. "I don't have much time to indulge myself in anime and cosplay but it looks like fun!"

"Oh… That's just too bad because I know you'll get addicted to it and never stop loving it. However, this job is just the chance for you to cosplay all you want. The downside of this is that you are assigned a uniform and won't get much chance to try on others unless by consent."

"We get uniforms?"

"Yes, you do. The girl who just left was assigned to be a maid and thus, your uniform would be maid attire. Let me go get your uniform for you," Junko said before stepping into the staff changing room.

"A maid uniform?" Sakura wondered aloud and started imaging what her uniform would look like. The image of Syaoran in apron surfaced immediately and Sakura had to push down a blush that she knew would colour her face.

"This is your uniform," Junko announced as she stepped out of the changing room with a piece of black and white short one piece dress, typical of what a maid would be wearing. It was coupled with a white maid cap, much to Sakura's embarrassment.

"I get to wear that?" Sakura asked, trying hard not let her disappoint escape. "And that cap…" The dress was super short and to make matter worse, the skirts were those puffy kind and it was easy to get exposed. "Really?"

Junko mistook her question for excitement and beamed at Sakura. "Yes! This uniform won the hearts of many of our customers. The previous girl couldn't handle that much attention and chose to seek employment in other café when I explained that she couldn't change it with the others. You see, you have to be slim to be able to wear this uniform and look really pretty." Junko's eyes raked over Sakura's body. "You'll do!"

Junko passed the uniform to Sakura, who accepted it and trying hard not to cringe. She blinked in surprise at the uniform's silkiness. "It looks comfortable," she mused.

"Yes, it is. Our staff have to work long hours despite being put on rotation and that's why I demand high quality uniform for the comfort of my staff," she explained patiently. "Besides waitressing, you will also be required to help out in the kitchen if required. We will begin operation in about an hour so get ready. Meanwhile, you can go and meet your other colleagues who are having a mini briefing at the front of the café."

"Yes, Junko-san," Sakura said and stepped into the changing room with a sigh. "Just the uniform I need," she muttered sarcastically. She wondered what her schoolmates would think if they happened to come to the café. She only hoped that she wouldn't get to meet any one of them here. It would be downright humiliating.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

****Thanks for reading! And thanks for all the reviews, alerts , follows and favorites! Really appreciate them. :)

Have some writer's block lately... And I'm always tired after work. :( Weekends are never enough!


	11. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 10**

* * *

The first day of work went on pretty smoothly for Sakura, thanks to the guidance of her female colleagues. There were so many customers in the café that made rest impossible and the staff were seen scurrying about to fulfill their customers' orders. Sakura was glad to take on the job as it kept her mind off the harsh reality. The downside of her job was her super short dress and it made it difficult for her to retrieve things that fell to the floor. If she bent down just a little, her rear would be exposed. Many male customers seemed to know about this fact and purposely dropped their cutlery in hopes that Sakura would pick it up. She was really grateful for her colleagues for coming to her rescue every time this happened. It was no wonder the previous girl chose to quit this job.

"You have done well, Kinomoto-san. Keep it up," Junko praised her before she left the café. She was tired after the almost twelve hours shift because another colleague wasn't able to turn up for work and she had to cover. Otherwise, it was only a six-hour job. However, she did not mind the additional hours as long as she got paid doing it.

"Thank you, Junko-san. Have a safe trip home." Sakura bowed respectfully to her boss before taking off back to Syaoran's home with a smile on her face. It was one delightful day to be able to meet so many people. She took a few steps on the pavement and came to a stop, staring warily at a lone rider atop a big and expensive looking motorcycle. The rider had a helmet on so she couldn't see who it was but it unnerved her that the rider seemed to be staring at her.

Imagine her surprise when the rider beckoned her forward. Sakura froze, looking around her to see if he was gesturing to someone behind her. When she turned her head to look at the little human traffic, no one was paying attention to him. Sakura pointed to herself with a confused expression on her face. _Do I know anyone who rides a motorcycle?_ The rider nodded his head and when Sakura did not move an inch, he flung his visor back so that she could see who he was.

"Sensei!" Sakura called out in surprise and hushed immediately when he put a finger to his lips. She hurried towards him. "What are you doing here?"

"What do you think?" he asked, and took in what she was wearing. Sakura flushed, glad that she wasn't allowed to wear her uniform out of the café. She was just in her jeans and plain tee at the moment. Syaoran seemed to nod his head in approval at her attire. "Climb on."

"What?" She was cut off by Syaoran who forced a helmet on her head and he was helping her to buckle up. "Li-sensei! What are you doing?"

He patted the seat behind him. "Fetching you home?"

"I can go home on my own."

Syaoran sighed. "It's late and there's hardly anyone around. Will you just get on?"

Sakura's heart skipped a beat. Was he worried about her safety that he went all the way here to escort her home? She could help but smile at the thought. Who knew Syaoran would be so sweet. The girl of his choice would no doubt be totally pampered and Sakura was suddenly envious of the lucky girl. _Wait… Am I supposed to be sitting behind him?_

"Li… Li-sensei…? I don't think this is appropriate… you know… sitting that close behind you." She shook her head at the thought of embracing him from behind and couldn't help a rosy blush on her cheeks. She took a step backwards. "I can't."

"Why not?" he asked. "Don't tell me you are shy."

The blush intensified and she could feel her cheeks heating up. Sakura thanked the helmet for obscuring Syaoran's gaze or he would sure notice the redness immediately and started teasing her mercilessly. His eyes twinkled. "You are _shy_!" he chuckled. "Muffin… My dearest muffin…"

Sakura's eyes widened when he slid off his motorcycle and came striding towards her. She could only stare at his bigger form. Her mind was frozen and she couldn't think of anything else but gape at the way his leather jacket brought out his physique. He looked much more dangerous than his usual self. He stopped directly in front of her, his visor still raised so that she could stare right at his beautiful amber eyes.

He closed his hand on her upper arm and she felt the warmth seep through his gloves immediately. If she was not careful around him, she would have let out a blissful sigh. _Why did he have to attract me so much?_

"Come," he ordered, pulling her gently towards the motorcycle and he hoisted her onto the vehicle. He smiled at her little gasp of surprise as he easily lifted her. "You okay?"

Sakura nodded her head numbly as she tried to recover from her earlier shock. She didn't expect him to lift her up bodily and hurriedly flicked her visor down so that she could hide her face from him. She cocked her head at him when he remained still, staring down at her, causing her to become self-conscious. "What are you still waiting for? Let's go home!"

"Yes, _muffin_," he grinned and slapped his visor down. Sakura sucked in her breath as he slid his leg over the motorcycle in front of her. When he revved the engine, her hands automatically wound around his torso and held on tight. His grin widened even further when he felt her erratic heartbeat through his back. He closed his large hand over her clasped hand at his stomach and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "Hold on tight!"

Sakura's legs were wobbly as she stepped off the motorcycle. She would have stumbled to the ground if Syaoran hadn't caught her in time. That was her first exhilarating ride on a motorcycle and she didn't know if she truly enjoyed it but if it could allow her to press so close to Syaoran, she would risk death to ride it again and she wasn't ready to admit _that_ to him.

He chuckled as he steadied her. "How's the ride?"

"It's okay," she replied, trying to tug the buckle of her helmet free but it was impossible since she couldn't figure out how to tackle the clasp. Syaoran brushed her hands aside and tilted her head up so that he could help her. He had already taken off his and his hair was all messed up. Sakura couldn't help but laughed at his disarray.

"What?" He frowned at her, wondering why she was laughing when all he did was helping her to remove her helmet. "What's so funny?"

Sakura shook her head as he pulled the helmet off her head. She burst into giggles again when she looked at him. He was so adorable with his messy hair! If only she could capture this moment forever. "Nothing!"

His eyes narrowed at her blatant lie. She bit her lips to stop the giggling fits and forced her gaze away from him. "Muffin, you can't lie to me."

"I'm not your muffin!" Sakura gasped aloud. "Stop calling me that. It makes me…"

"Makes you…?"

"Blush," she uttered before pulling away from in and fleeing into the house. A few seconds later, the lights in her room was switched on and a dark shadow appeared at her window. "Stop calling me muffin!" she shouted from above, earning her a chuckle from Syaoran.

"She's cute," he murmured as he stepped into the house and locked the door after him. He placed his helmets on the shoe rack near the entranceway and flopped onto the sofa in the living room. Laying his head against the headrest, he closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh. He didn't accomplish much for the whole day except for grading a small pile of his students work and he spent the rest of the time worrying about Sakura. He had to clamp down on his temptation to visit her at the café to see for himself that she was indeed coping well. He wondered why he was actually so concerned about only one of his student.

_I must be losing my mind._

It was almost a month since Sakura started working at the cosplay café. She really enjoyed working there because she had lots of fun interacting with her colleagues and loyal customers who would patron their café every weekend without fail. The good news was that she has yet to encounter any of her school mates and she was really grateful for that. That meant that she still get to study and work part-time without having to worry about being dispelled from the school.

"Your shift has ended, Kinomoto-san," her petite short-haired colleague, Yui, reminded her with a smile and urged her into the staff room. "Don't keep your knight waiting."

Sakura blushed prettily. "What knight? I don't understand what you are saying."

Yui smacked Sakura on her arm playfully and she giggled behind one hand. "Stop pretending! All of us at the café knew about him."

Sakura paled at Yui words. "Him?"

"Oh! You know, the hunky guy in the leather jacket waiting outside the café for you?" Yui jabbed her side with an elbow. "It's no use denying. Even the customers know that he's there waiting for you to knock off every weekend without fail. Who is he? Your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend!" Sakura's cheeks turned crimson. "Although I wish he is."

"Aww… You mean he's not taken?"

Sakura shrugged, feeling uncomfortable out of a sudden. "I seriously don't know."

"But if he has no feelings for you, he wouldn't be waiting for you out there patiently like a devoted boyfriend," Yui argued. "Ask him?"

"Are you crazy? I'm not going to do that!"

"Well… That's such a waste," Yui remarked and returned to her job. It was her turn to cover for another sick colleague. "I was just suggesting. No harm intended."

Sakura remembered asking Syaoran if he had a girlfriend a long time ago but he had cleverly changed the topic. It seemed to her that he was unwilling to discuss his personal issue and she didn't want to press him further. She respected his right to remain silent on the issue. If he wanted her to know, he would eventually tell her. She changed out of her uniform hurriedly and dashed out of the café, waving goodbyes to her customers.

Syaoran slid off his motorcycle when he spotted her at the door. He flipped his visor up and smiled warmly at her as she came nearer. "How's work?"

"Great!" Sakura beamed, accepting the helmet and swiftly putting it on without any problems. "The customers were having so much fun playing some games together."

"Did anyone dare to grope you?" Syaoran asked, clenching his hands at the thought of other guys touching her. "I'll bash whoever dared to touch you without permission."

"Does that include you?" Sakura asked with a teasing glint in her eyes.

"I thought I had your permission?" Syaoran asked, leaning closer to her and drawing her to his side. "Right, muffin?"

"Smartass," she muttered before swinging herself onto the pillion. When he slid in front of her, she told him about what her colleagues thought about him. "They thought you are my boyfriend."

Syaoran froze beneath her hands at her words. If she was not holding on to him, she would have missed his reaction. "Did they?"

Sakura nodded and her helmet thumped against Syaoran's back, causing her to wince from the jarring impact. "Yes. They all thought the same thing and so did the customers."

"That's not so bad, isn't it?"

A smile spread across her face. "It's not bad but it isn't good."

Syaoran twisted her body so that he could look at her. "Why?"

"You want the reasons?" she asked, surprised. Syaoran nodded his head slowly and Sakura wished she could see his eyes. People often say that eyes are the windows to the soul. She wondered if she could see what he truly thought or felt about her. "Well, I'm still schooling and that's one of the reasons and second, you are my homeroom teacher! How can we be together? We have to be logical and realistic."

There was a long pause after that before Syaoran revved the engine. "Well, it isn't too bad, is it? I, for one, don't mind it."

"Really?" Sakura breathed out but her words were drowned by the sound of his engine as he sped off.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

TGIF! Too bad I'm falling sick. Argh...That aside, thanks again for all the reviews, follows, alerts and favorites! Hope this chapter is to your liking. I know I haven't replied to your reviews yet. I'll do so tomorrow afternoon as I'm super sleepy right now and I have appointments in the morning. :(


	12. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 11**

* * *

"Time's up! All of you, pens down," the teacher announced, her voice booming in the silent classroom. Papers rustled as students tried to cramp in a few more words hastily. "I said no more writing!" Several students groaned but all of them complied nevertheless.

Sakura let her heavy head drop onto the table as she waited for the teacher to account for all the papers. Her hand felt numb after hours of frantic scribbling. She felt as if she had written more words during the examinations than she had for her homework. That was partially true since she really skipped a significant number of classes. It was still a miracle to her that the school didn't suspend her or even to withdraw her from school.

Despite having gone through a cruel test of Calculus, afternoon classes still had to continue. At least it was lunch time so she could rest a little before the next boring class started. Sakura didn't even bother to wait for the teacher to announce that they could leave for lunch before dozing off at her table. A sharp rap on her table caused her to jerk away.

"Li-sensei!" Sakura exclaimed, looking up at him with wide eyes. She took a look around and found that several classmates who were still around, were shooting weird glances at them. "Um… Is anything wrong?"

It was unnerving for her to be under the scrutiny of Syaoran, especially in full view of her classmates. "I need to talk to you about your grades," he said. Sakura's heart dropped in understanding—she must have gotten bad results to render a visit to the teachers' office after school hours. He was still standing there after delivering his ultimate blow to her mind. "Teachers' office. After school."

"Yes, Li-sensei," Sakura all but groaned and let her head bang onto the table in defeat, much to Syaoran's amusement. She felt him gave a little pat on the top of her head before his footsteps receded. The class resumed its normal lunchtime activity as though there wasn't any interrupted from teachers. She felt restless out of a sudden, probably due to knowing about her results, and she leaned back to stretch herself only to bang into an object on her table. She grasped the box before it slid off her table completely. "What?"

It was a familiar looking lunchbox but Sakura wondered how it got there. Syaoran must have left it on her table secretly because no one was paying any attention to it. That was lucky! Besides, she could use some food to fill her stomach and to make her forget about the little appointment she had with Syaoran after school.

Sakura knocked on the door before she slid it. She had purposely delayed coming to the teachers' office as she did not want many people to witness the two of them talk. He didn't seem to hear her enter the office as he continued grading some papers. Sakura stood by the door for a few moments to stare at him. If he was busy, why did he ask her to meet him in school when he could have talked to her at his own time at home?

Syaoran suddenly whirled around in his seat to face her, as if feeling that someone was staring at him. His face brightened up when he saw her. "You're finally here!" he exclaimed before pulling out the chair at the next table. "Come, sit here."

"Why?"

"Why what? I'm just asking you to sit here while I grade these papers before we call it a day at school."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "So you called me here to watch you while you mark some freaking papers?"

Syaoran pondered for a moment before grinning at her. "That's in a nutshell."

"You are wasting my time," Sakura muttered and stomped forward anyway. There wasn't much things she could do out of school. Besides, she didn't have the key to Syaoran's house and that made it impossible for her to return home. There was no way that she was going to loiter outside Syaoran's house as if she was some crazy stalker. She wouldn't want to risk being noticed or recognized by somebody else.

"Aw, come on! Just have some pity on me and keep me company for a while," Syaoran pouted. "See? There's no one around anymore. I can't believe all the teachers left this early."

"Well, the students leave on time too and you can't blame the teachers for leaving early. You are the only teacher who would stay back a little to clear work," Sakura remarked. "Other teachers won't care that much."

"They don't?" Syaoran asked, a little surprised. "How did you know?"

Sakura shrugged. "Trust me. You wouldn't want to know."

"Now you have piqued my curiosity."

"Your answer lies in the pachinko shop and the café which I used to work in."

Syaoran sucked in a breath. "Seriously? I can understand the café but _pachinko_? I can think of better ways to spend my time and money."

"Like stalking your favourite student?" Sakura suggested mischievously, wriggling her eyebrows at him.

He guffawed in response. "Seriously? I think stalking is an extremely strong word. You should use _concerned_."

Sakura snorted as she leaned back against the back of the chair, shaking her head as she did so. "I wonder about that. I still couldn't understand why you would want to take me into your house."

"Hey, don't make it sound like I'm some kind of bad guy going after little girl. I'm being a good teacher here by showing my care and concern for my kids."

"What? Are you that old? We aren't even related."

Syaoran paused his grading to glance at her. "You think I should just let you sleep on the streets and get robbed or even…"

"Sometimes… I think I'm actually not worth every attention," she admitted quietly. It was so soft that Syaoran had to strain to hear. "Well… That's what I think." She gave him a shaky smile before she gulped in a huge breath to steady herself.

Turning to her, he reached out for her hands and clasped them in his bigger and warmer ones. "What made you say so, muffin?"

She did not even retort to his use of endearment. "I don't know," she answered and sighed aloud. "It's like I'm totally alone and lost in this big world and… I don't deserve all these."

"Of course you deserve better," Syaoran interrupted. "You are still young and although things may seem bleak at the moment, it's definitely going to pick up at some point in your life."

She shook her head gravely and her mouth trembled. This was the first time she had come close to bearing her innermost thoughts to someone else. "You don't understand," she gasped out. "You don't understand at all." She pulled her hands away from Syaoran and buried her face in them.

"Then make me," he said and felt Sakura's shoulders tensed up. "Tell me. Make me understand."

Sakura shook her head, still pressing her hands to her face as if she was ashamed to let him see her. "I don't deserve this," she repeated. "I caused their deaths and yet I'm still alive."

In a blink of an eye, or perhaps even faster than that, Sakura was in Syaoran's arms. He had pulled her from her seat to hug and comfort her. It was an awkward position since she was half sitting and half sprawled on Syaoran's lap. "Don't say that!" he hissed and sounded anguished. "It's not your fault. Don't blame yourself. It is a _miracle _that you are still alive!"

"No!" Sakura protested violently as she struggled in his embrace. "I don't deserve to live. I don't deserve to be happy. I don't deserve _anything _at all!"

Syaoran pressed her head harder into his chest, trying to absorb all her helplessness into him and gave her strength in exchange. "Think about your family!" he urged. "Think of what they want you to do if they are still alive. Think! Think of what they would feel when they see that you are wasting your own life away. And don't you ever dare to let them down!"

Tears began flowing freely down her cheeks. Tears which she thought had already dried up from months and months of crying after the fateful crash. Feelings she thought she was already numb to begin to thaw as she sank into Syaoran's embrace and let him comfort her. This was different from when she lost her family photograph—her tears were unstoppable.

Sakura felt his arms tightened around her small body as she sobbed even harder. She cried for her family, for her miserable life and for her unknown future. If only time could turn back for her… She would have thought of some ways for them to avoid the collision altogether.

"Yes, let it all out and you'll feel much better," Syaoran cooed and that only caused her to cry even more. It took her a long time to calm down and she suddenly felt embarrassed and shy about her sudden emotional outburst. She was glad that all the teachers and students had already gone back home. She was glad that Syaoran was the sole witness to her shameful tears. "Feel better now?" he asked, grabbing some tissues for her.

She blew her nose hard on the tissues before replying him. "Yes, I feel better now. Thank you," she said, her voice hoarse from all the crying. "And um… I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time when you have so many things to do."

Syaoran gave her a warm smile that took her breath away. She shouldn't be feeling such a thing for her homeroom teacher, right? "Anything for my muffin."

She scowled at him immediately. "I'm not your muffin. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Aha! Now I know you are back to normal," he chuckled as he turned back to his papers. "Just a few more before we can go."

"Home?"

"There's some place where I want to bring you to before we go back," he said. "And no asking where!"

"Spoilsport."

Sakura wished she could dig a big hole in the ground and just hide inside. It was all thanks to Syaoran, who had brought her to this café. Of all the café in the whole of Japan, he had to bring her to this cosplay café which she worked at over the weekends. Her face burned from embarrassment as her colleagues gossiped about her in broad daylight in clear view of Syaoran and her.

"So… This is how the café looks like," Syaoran commented, taking in the surrounding and smiling at the waitresses who happened to look his way. Sakura wished she could cover his eyes so that he wouldn't be able to see her lady colleagues, most of them were a little older than her and definitely much prettier and curvier than her. "Not bad. Personally, I think I like the uniforms the best. Hey, introduce me to that nurse! And that samurai with the heart-shaped eye-patch! Oh my! They are so cute!"

It took Sakura all her restrains not to fling the heavy menu at her homeroom teacher who couldn't stop ogling at her colleagues. "I'm leaving if you are not ordering."

"Wh-what? You're not leaving!" Syaoran exclaimed, pulling his eyes away from the waitresses and flipping through the menu immediately. Sakura gritted her teeth when she heard them giggle. She shot them a heated glare but that only made them giggle even more. She had to roll her eyes and pray hard for patience. "So… What's nice here?"

"The burgers here are nice and so are their curry items," she said coldly, trying to sound professional. After all, she was part of the staff there. "And you should totally try their wide range of soda drinks. They are quite impressive."

"That's quite a recommendation!" Syaoran praised and his eyes twinkled. Was he teasing her? Before she had the time to figure out, Yui stood by their table and looked at them expectantly. "I'll take the curry rice and an apple soda."

"Um… Omelette rice with cherry soda. Thanks Yui," she said, smiling up at her colleague who winked at her before sashaying to the kitchen with their order chit. Sakura could feel the force of her colleagues' gazes as she dined with Syaoran, whom they knew as the mystery bike rider. Somehow, they knew she had limited social life and it was easy for them to guess his identity. "They totally knew that you are the biker," she commented uncomfortably in between mouthful of food.

"I don't mind," he said easily. "They are bound to find out anyway."

"That's not good!" Sakura sputtered. "They can't find out."

"But you said they already did," Syaoran countered, looking up at Sakura. He grinned suddenly and Sakura was caught off guard. "You have something here," he said and pointed to the corner of his mouth. Embarrassed, she quickly wiped her mouth with a napkin but Syaoran still shook his head. "Here, let me." Sakura watched as Syaoran leaned across the table. With a finger under her chin, he tilted her face up towards him as he swooped in and licked the gravy from the other corner of her mouth. A chorus of swoony "awww" rang in the café as Sakura hurriedly shoved him away from her.

"What are you doing?"

"Delicious!" he announced as he sank back into his chair with a smirk.

"You are impossible!"

"And you, my dearest muffin, are lovely," he said and added a wink for good measure.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

The first few days of the month is always the busiest for me due to the nature of my work. So for the past few days, I've been working late into the night and was super tired by the time I got home. :( I'm just hoping things will get better soon!

Anyway, I have the feeling that Sakura's sudden outburst was a little weird. What do you think?


	13. Chapter 12

Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 12**

* * *

Sakura was cornered in the changing room by all her female colleagues. They grinned at her and somehow, they scared the crap out of Sakura with their queer behavior. "Good morning?" she squeaked out her greeting and tried to put some distance between them.

"Who's that guy?"

"Is that guy your boyfriend?"

"Husband?"

"Wait! I can't really hear when all of you talk at the same time!" Sakura interrupted before they could spew any more questions. Everyone ceased their chattering immediately and Sakura could feel a sense of peacefulness spread over them. It was only for a moment because they started throwing her questions again when she tried to leave the changing room. "Do I really have to answer your questions?"

"Of course!" Yui exclaimed. She looked at the small little group before nodding at Sakura. "As your colleagues, we have the right to know. Why do we have the right? That's because we care about you, a lot!"

Sakura paused. Something that Yui said had struck a chord in her heart. It has been so long since someone actually cared about her. It took her one long year to get used to being alone without much talking. One year of struggling to cope with work and school. One year of loneliness. That barrier crumbled into pieces the moment Syaoran came knocking. It was a little discomforting when people showed her concern.

"Um… Well… Let's just say that he isn't for me."

"Why?" Rika, her demure colleague with short chocolate curls, asked. Sakura could see that she was totally curious about her situation. "Why did you say that? You didn't see how he was into you? He hardly gave us any notice while he was here yesterday. It's kind of sad, you know?"

"What? He was totally checking all of you out!" Sakura exclaimed, surprised that they didn't catch his gaze on them.

Rika shook her head gravely. "No. There were so many of us at work yesterday and he seemed to be only looking at you. Are you sure he isn't your boyfriend?"

"He's not. I swear," Sakura said, raising her right hand up with a solemn vow that had her colleagues doubling over in laughter. "What?"

"I can't believe this," Yui muttered through her tears. "I really pity that guy. He's all over you and here you are thinking that he isn't for you."

"That's right! Perhaps the next time he comes here, I should leave some gravy on my face and see what he'll do," Rikia added, causing Sakura's face to turn crimson.

"All of you are so mean! Stop teasing me!" Sakura covered her face and made a dash out of the changing room and almost collided with Junko.

"Careful there," she said, steadying Sakura before frowning slightly at the gathering inside the changing room. "Well, the first customer is here so get working. Kinomoto-san, you might want to take the first order."

"Yes Junko-san!" Sakura replied before rushing to the casher to grab the order chit and skidded to a halt at the sole customer's table. Her eyes widened when familiar amber eyes glinted back at her. "Sensei!"

Syaoran shot out a hand and covered her mouth immediately. Sakura sucked in a breath in shock and her body went rigid. His gaze darted around anxiously as he slowly removed his hand. "You have to stop that if you don't want people to know about our relationship."

"What what relationship is that precisely?" Sakura asked, tapping her pen against the thick pad of order chit. Syaoran was grinning at her. Was her blush that obvious?

He shrugged. "Well, you are my student and just for that reason alone I should report you to the school but I didn't. It's just so complicated. Then, do I have to mention that you are living with me now? That's going to be the talk of the whole country if they find out. Last but not least, you like me. That's a taboo. So does that answer your question?"

Sakura's mouth was forming an "O" shape at the moment as she stared at Syaoran in surprise at his words. "I have a question though…"

"Ask away," Syaoran said, nodding at her. "I've got plenty of time."

"Why did you… yesterday… you know…"

"What? Lick you?"

Sakura blanched. "Ew… Can you use a better word for that?"

"What do you want me to say?" he asked. "Or better still, do you want me to show you again?"

"No!" Sakura exclaimed, rearing back defensively in case he really dared to try that on her. "No way! You can't do it again!"

"Why not?"

Sakura prayed for patience. "And you just listed down all the possible bad things that could happen if we were found out."

"Well, it's still a secret right? So don't worry too much about it. It's a secret and it will remain a secret."

Someone cleared her throat at the cashier and Sakura did not have to be reminded twice to get the customer's order. "So, what would you like to have?"

"What do you have for breakfast here?"

"Scrambled eggs, toasts and freshly brewed coffee. Those are the main items for the morning. You can also order sandwiches if you like."

Syaoran frowned at the menu in his hands. "Hmm… This is bad… The menu is kind of… lacking."

"Lacking? In what way?"

"It doesn't have you in it," he replied seriously, still browsing through the menu.

Sakura could hear giggling in the kitchen. Since there weren't much people around in the morning, the café was extremely quiet to the point where normal conversation at the front of the café could be heard clearly from the kitchen area. Sakura refrained from groaning when she realized that her colleagues had overhead them. They were bound to tease her about it when they were all alone later.

"Li-sensei," Sakura started and hesitated when he frowned at the use of his title. She ignored him. "I feel that we should maintain a respectable distance."

"I don't see the need to do that," he insisted. "We have done nothing wrong."

"We have done nothing wrong _yet_. That doesn't mean that what we are doing is correct. You're my teacher and I'm your student. We can't go any further than that. We _mustn't_."

"Must you say it out loud? Look, your manager is already swooning," he commented, peering at the counter behind Sakura. "Seriously, you think I want to date my own student? My friend has been teasing me about it for months and urging me to go with my instinct. My instinct tells me to press for it and I will do so. I don't give a damn about what other people thinks."

Sakura winced at Syaoran's use of blasphemy. It was rare for him to curse. "It isn't appropriate…"

"What do you think about me?" Syaoran asked her earnestly. "Tell me."

"I'm sorry. I'm currently working and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to deal with personal issues. What would you like to have?"

Syaoran chuckled, turning his attention back to his menu. "Don't think you are off the bait, _muffin_. I'll pester you all day long for your answer. Mark my words. And toast and coffee for me please?"

Sakura scribbled down his order before bowing and retreating to the kitchen where she passed the order chit to the chef. "Don't ask me anything," Sakura warned her colleagues as she squeezed through the human gate by the kitchen. "Just don't say anything."

The waitresses lined up neatly at the counter as they surveyed the entire café to spot any customers who would require their services. Otherwise, they would wait for new customers to enter the café so that they can attend to them. Yui nudged Sakura's side with an elbow, causing Sakura to wince in pain when she jabbed a little too hard. "He's still there and it's almost evening," she commented.

Sakura's gaze reluctantly strayed to Syaoran's form at the far end of the café where he was sipping another steaming cup of coffee—she lost count of the number of drinks he had drank—and reading a book which he had brought along. "Just leave him be."

"Aw… Is he going to wait until you knock off? That's so sweet of him…" Yui murmured with a blissful sigh. "You are so lucky!"

"I already told you that there's nothing going on between us."

Yui snorted and rolled her eyes. "Oh please… From the way you steal glances at him whenever you think we are not looking? I think not!"

"What? I didn't!"

Arching an eyebrow at her denial, Yui began clucking her tongue. "You can lie to me but you can't lie to yourself. Do you really want to be strangers with that wonderful guy? Really?"

Remaining silent was the best course of action that seemed to stop Yui's non-stop chattering. Sakura couldn't help herself and took another quick peek at Syaoran again. Her eyes widened in surprise when he was looking straight at her and—damn—that guy was grinning at her as if knowing the reason for staring at him. Sakura schooled her expression into a frown and turned her head away.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get Syaoran's words out of her mind. Did that man really want to date his own student? For goodness sake, he has already allowed her into his house without requiring her to pay rent. Was the man a saint or what? Sakura wondered what he was playing at.

"Oh! He has signaled for our services!" Rika remarked, shoving Sakura out of the line and shooing her towards Syaoran. "Go attend to your _boyfriend_!"

"He's not my boyfriend!" she hissed back before squaring her shoulders and marching towards Syaoran's table. "What do you want?" she asked curtly. Junko would have her head if she knew that she was actually using this tone to talk with the customer.

Syaoran seemed amused by her words and that was strange because she only shot a four-word question at him. "I want a girlfriend, muffin. Will you be my girlfriend?"

Oh. That was definitely a very direct question that grabbed the attention of everyone nearby. Customers looked at her expectantly, as if they were eager to hear what her answer would be. Her face was burning from being put in the limelight and she felt like kicking Syaoran for making her feel this way. "Would you like to refill your coffee?" she asked, trying to steer away from the question.

"Ah… That would be great although what I really want is your answer. So what is it going to be?"

Sakura considered her options. To be honest, it was just so easy to say yes to him since she was already so drawn to him. However, when she thought about their prospects together, she was disheartened. Syaoran must have noticed her change in expression because he looked a little worried.

"I'll bring you some more coffee. Please excuse me," she said and quickly stepped away. She was stopped abruptly when she felt a restraining hand grabbed hers. "Release me."

"And let you run away? I highly doubt that. Answer me seriously, muffin. Tell me what you feel."

"In private?" Sakura squeaked, darting anxious glances around her.

"I'll hold you to that," Syaoran said. He jerked Sakura towards him forcefully, causing her to lose her balance as she tumbled onto his lap with a surprised gasp. He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek before she could react and catcalls echoed throughout the room from the male guests. "Looks like some of them agree with my choice."

"Sensei! I'm still your student!" Sakura whispered, pinching his arm to get him to release her. "Don't you care about your job?"

"I don't."

"Then what about me? You want me to be kicked out of school?"

That did the trick and she was released immediately. "Well… I guess I kind of forgot about that," he admitted sheepishly.

"That's why I can't say yes," Sakura said and went to retrieve the promised coffee refill.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

That concludes chapter 12! Anyone irritated with the way Sakura keeps denying? I wasn't thinking much when I wrote that and after I edited the chapter, then I come to realize it's everywhere. *laughs* I'll have to do a overall re-write after my draft is all done. I'm currently stuck at Chapter 24 though. Give me a month or two and the whole draft will be complete and I'll move on to a new fic! Lots of ideas coming in but I'm sticking to Sensei, I Love You at the moment. Focus! :D

Happy Lunar New Year everyone!


	14. Chapter 13

Surprise! :D

Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 13**

* * *

Sakura was hopping off the motorcycle even before Syaoran could kill the engine. She tossed her helmet to him and was rushing into the house in record time using the spare key that Syaoran gave her. Thanks to the spare key, Sakura didn't have to wait for Syaoran to leave the school before she could go home. However, she still felt weird to be living in her homeroom teacher's place and that was the reason why she always kept to her room—she didn't want to have another episode of sleeping in Syaoran's arms even though it was really pleasant.

"Wait up!" Syaoran called out, trying to halt her but she was quick on her feet.

"Thanks for the ride!" she replied cheerfully, giving him a slight wave before she climbed the stairs in record time and closed herself into her spacious room. She leaned her back against the door and sighed. It was a long and tiring day. Syaoran's presence in the shop only added to her stress level for the whole day. It was difficult for her to concentrate on anything else besides knowing that he was there in the same place as her.

Her bag slid from her shoulder onto the floor with a loud thud. Paying no heed to it, she lumbered forward to her bed and plopped face-down onto it. She squeezed the pillow into her face for a few seconds as if that would give her an energy boost and flipped onto her bed in the next second to stare at the ceiling. Her mind was too tired to work. The only thing she knew was she needed to take a bath before sleeping but that thought slipped away as she slumbered.

Sakura jerked awake with a start, clutching her covers in a tight grasp and breathing hard. Her alarm clock continued to buzz loudly, its sound was sharp and annoying. She released a breath she didn't know she was holding on to and slapped down her alarm clock.

Her stomach grumbled loudly, reminding her that she had to eat something before heading off for work. She stumbled to the adjourning toilet to prepare herself for a busy day. She wasn't surprised to see Syaoran had already woken up and was hovering over the kitchen stove.

"Good morning, Li-sensei," Sakura greeted and seated herself at the dining table, letting her head drop onto the surface tiredly.

Syaoran turned to frown at her. "Must you call me sensei at home?"

"Absolutely!" Sakura replied with a grin.

"You are awfully cheerful today," Syaoran remarked, tossing the pancakes onto the pile on the plate. She remained prone at the table even as he placed the delicious looking pancakes-her favorite- on the table. "Hey, you look pale. Are you feeling all right?"

Sakura stifled a groan as she sat up straight in her chair. Funny, she was perfectly all right just a few moments ago. Her head spun as she straightened and she stifled a groan when the dizziness hit her. "I'm fine," she grounded out. She was far from fine but she didn't want to worry Syaoran. "I just need some food in my stomach."

Syaoran passed her a plate and watched as she slid one pancake onto her own plate and poured maple syrup over it. She caught his worried look and sent him a weak smile. "You really don't look good. Why don't you just rest at home today?"

Sakura shrugged. The cosplay cafe would be really busy and she couldn't afford to miss day at work since Tomoyo was the one who introduced her the job. She didn't want to leave a bad impression on Junko. "I'll be fine later on," she promised and that was a lie. She was beginning to feel a little light-headed.

"Skip work," he urged again, pulling her plate away so she couldn't eat.

"I can't!" she said, tempted to throw the fork onto the table in annoyance. "I can't let Tomoyo-chan and Junko-san down. I have to work. I promised them."

"Not when you are in this condition. It can get worse, you know?"

"I don't have much of a choice," she grumbled and snatched her plate from his hands. She gave him a death glare. Her appetite was gone and she was just playing around with her food on the plate. With a resigned sigh, she tossed the remains into the bin and laid on the sofa in the living room.

Syaoran hovered over Sakura, casting a shadow on her body as she blinked blearily up at him. He placed a gentle hand on her forehead and his frown intensified upon the temperature he had felt. "You're burning up!"

"Just let me rest for a few more minutes and I'll be as good as new," Sakura replied and turned to her side so that she wasn't looking at Syaoran. "Promise me you'll wake me up?" she asked, sounding like a lost little child.

"Later," he agreed and watched as her heavy eyelids fluttered close.

Sakura felt something wet and heavy on her forehead and tried to swat it away, scrunching up her nose in annoyance when it came back again. She grabbed whatever it was and flung it to the floor before shifting into a more comfortable position.

"How unladylike," a deep male voice said. "I really wonder what he sees in you."

Her eyes widened and she was awake in the next instant as if she was doused with a bucket of ice water. She shot into a sitting position and almost screamed out in shock when she saw an unfamiliar male in the living room with her.

"Oh, she wakes!" he mock squealed like a little girl before narrowing his eyes at her as if he was trying to sum her up from his first impression. "Pretty eyes, rosy cheeks and a cute little mouth. I think I can start to understand him better."

"Who are you?" Sakura squeaked, scampering behind the sofa for cover. "Why are you here? Where's Li-sensei? Don't come any closer or I'll scream!" her voice ended in a loud crescendo, causing the man to wince at the sharpness of it.

"Haven't you already done that?" he muttered.

"Who are you?" she demanded loudly, her quivering of her voice betrayed her emotions. "Why are you here?"

"And she needs to learn not to ask the same questions again and again." He rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall, eyeing her coolly.

"Answer me!"

"Well, your teacher sent me here to be a nanny," he said flatly. "Me-a nanny. Seriously, I wonder if his mind is functioning normally."

"Who..."

He flung a hand at her to signal her to stop, catching her in surprise and she was cut half-way through her question. "You want answers? I'll give it to you. My name is Hiiragizawa Eriol, an acting CEO for a big corporation which I'm not in the position to tell you, and I was sent here to take care of you while your beloved teacher is out of the house."

"He left me here with you?" Sakura asked in disbelief. "How could he?"

"I'm just following orders," Eriol replied and flung the wet towel back into the basin of water. Sakura blinked. So that was the thing that was annoying her. "And yes, I'm to look after you so will you lay still and let me be a dutiful nanny to tend to you?"

It was awkward being in the same room with a stranger and a rude stranger at that. He seemed to be around the same age at Syaoran with neat dark hair which seemed to be dyed blue. "Did you dye your hair?" The question was out of her mouth before she could stop it. Her eyes widened in fear when Eriol frowned at her. It was as if he was suffocating her with his angry gaze.

"It's not for you to know." His reply was curt and Sakura didn't dare to question further for fear of her own life.

It was already late and night and the clock on the TV console showed that it was almost ten. Sakura gasped in shock. "I missed my work! Oh my gosh! Junko-san is so going to kill me!"

Eriol snorted. "I doubt that. Syaoran should be working fine there so you can relax and concentrate on getting well."

"Li-sensei is _what_?"

"I said Syaoran should be working fine there," he replied. "He's doing you a big favor by replacing you for the day and I'm doing him an even bigger favor by nursing you back to health."

"You said you are a... CEO? And you are friends with Li-sensei?"

"Well, if you say so then sure, we are." He shrugged. "Since you have asked so many questions, I believe it should be my turn now."

"Um... yes?"

"Why are you living with him?"

Straight to the point. Sakura couldn't fault him—he must be worried about his friend's reputation but that didn't mean that she was comfortable in replying his question. "Um... That's a long story..."

"Well, we have all night to hear that," Eriol stated.

Sakura's eyes widened in shock. All night? "You are... staying over?"

"And she tries to chase me away..." Eriol muttered more to himself and he looked out of the window, as if praying for patience. "Yes, I'm to stay here until he comes back."

Sakura looked uncertain. Syaoran didn't tell her anything or leave a note for her. What if this Eriol was a burglar or someone even worse. She gave him a quick look-over—tall, good-looking in his business suit—and thought he would pass off as someone with authority, not a burglar at all. Still, it would be good to be wary of him.

"Um... Do you want something to eat or drink?" Sakura asked politely.

"There's no need for those. I've eaten at my office before I came over," Eriol said and sat down on the sofa, causing Sakura to stumble away from it to put some distance between them. He gave her a weird look before deciding to ignore her and turned on the TV instead. "You can go up and rest some more. I wouldn't want to face the wrath of Syaoran when he comes back and find you still feverish."

"Oh. Um... right. I'll go rest more," Sakura said dumbly before she rushed up the stairs into the room, nearing slamming the door behind her.

Sakura must have dozed off again for when she woke up, the morning sun was already shinning into the room. She sat up on the bed, feeling a little disorientated but was thankful that she felt a lot better. She scooted to the side of the bed, ready to head off to the toilet when a hand hauled her roughly back onto the bed. She squeaked in fright and whirled around to face the attacker, only to see a sleeping Syaoran beside her. Sakura inhaled sharply, trying to ease her quickening heartbeat from the adrenaline rush.

"Li-sensei!" she gasped when he pulled her down beside him and began snuggling beside her. She tried shoving against his shoulders but he was just too strong, even when he was sleeping. His mouth was practically pressing against her neck and even though it was a pleasant feeling, Sakura knew she had to break away from him. That's when she heard his chuckles and realization dawned on her—he was teasing her!

"Good morning, muffin," his murmured while nuzzling against her throat. His voice was a little hoarse from the sleep, adding to the sexiness level.

"Don't stick so close to me!" Sakura exclaimed, still struggling to free away from him. When he didn't move an inch, she pinched him hard on his arm and he yelped in pain. The moment he let go of her, she scrambled backwards so fast that it didn't register that she was at the edge of the bed till it was too late. She landed on the ground with a loud thump and groaned as pain shot from her scalp. "Ouch."

The sight must be very amusing for Syaoran because he was chuckling at her. She tossed her pillow at his face and watched with satisfaction as it made contact. She stuck her tongue at his shocked expression before going to the toilet.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

Happy V-Day everyone!

Initially, I had plans to write a one-shot for V-day but I never get to start it. I'm posting an extra chapter to make up for it. So... I just threw in Eriol into the story. What do you think of him so far? :)


	15. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me. :'(

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 14**

* * *

They ate a simple breakfast consisting of bread and coffee since Syaoran had slept in. He was tired after the long hours at the cosplay cafe and Sakura's heart went out to him. He was so sweet to stand-in for her and even got his friend to come over to look after her. Her mood soured at the thought of her ill-mannered friend. How did the two of them become friends? Syaoran was kind and polite while his friend, Eriol, was the total opposite of him.

"Hiiragizawa-kun is your friend? Truly?" Sakura blurted out the question that plagued her. "And you told him to come?"

Syaoran nodded his head. "He's one of my closest friends and yes, I thought you needed some help at home since you are not feeling well."

"Oh... Um... Thank you," Sakura said and felt a little overwhelmed by Syaoran's considerateness. He even sacrificed his weekend just to help her. "I hope Junko-san wasn't angry with our arrangement."

"No one could be angry with me." His chest puffed out with pride as he replied. "I'm just that good."

"Oh, really?"

"Yes, really. What? You don't believe me?"

"Well... I do find it hard to imagine when all you do in school is to act like a grinning idiot everytime," she retorted.

"Ouch, that hurts," he winced. "Well, being an idiot is my profession if it makes people happy."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "What nonsense is that? Has working at the cosplay cafe addled your brain? Perhaps they forced you to wear my maid uniform?"

"Oh, kinky," he said and grinned at her knowingly. "I didn't know you were into _that_. Well, if you insist that I wear it, I'll probably wear it at home for you. Ah... Imagine me in your sexy maid uniform and strutting around in my own house..."

Sakura shuddered at the mental image he had placed in her mind. "Eww... Stop that! You're ruining my appetite."

"How about you wear it at home instead? After all, I burnt my weekend for you and that could be my compensation."

"Heavens, no!" Sakura protested immediately. "That's embarrassing! It was difficult enough to wear it at work. There's no way I'm going to wear that at home too!"

"Aww... I'm the only one who's going to see it!" he whined. "Don't I get any reward for helping you?"

"I didn't ask for your help," she reminded him.

"But I helped you anyway so I want a reward," he insisted.

"Should a teacher be behaving this way? This is unseemly!"

"Well, this teacher is different from others. Unique. One of a kind. Can we talk about my reward now?"

Sakura shook her head.

"Aww... That's too bad then..." he drawled out and glanced at his watch. "Time for us to go, muffin."

Sakura sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me muffin? I'm not some kind of food."

Syaoran got up from the table and walked towards Sakura, pausing right beside her. Her bread froze midway to her mouth as she stared up at him inquiringly. "What? You can go on first. I'll make sure I reach school on time."

Not to bothering to reply her, Syaoran swooped down and pressed a lingering kiss on her cheek almost near her lips. She went shocked still and he chuckled at her before leaving for school. Darn the man who could make her react this way.

This was getting dangerous. She never knew falling in love with her teacher would be so dangerous but she couldn't help it.

She knew she was already way too deep in trouble.

Her trouble came far too early to suit her liking and left her feeling miserable throughout the day in school. She wasn't late for school and she was never once in her entire life late for school. It was either school or work and she was never late for either of which. Work was her priority since it was her source of income and she would gladly skip school for work if she was tight on cash.

What shocked her totally was the picture that was put up at the big noticeboard at the entrance hall. No one would miss it since all of them have to pass through the entrance hall to get to their lockers for indoor shoes. If only it was a normal picture. it wouldn't have made such a big commotion within the school. Everyone was talking about it during lunch break that Li-sensei had made a move on one of the school's student. Naturally, the picture posted on the noticeboard was that of Syaoran, with his back to the camera. It was evident that there was a student on his lap. There was no mistake as to the gender of the student since she was wearing a skirt. It was a miracle that her face wasn't shown on the picture. They were in deep trouble and it would be difficult to get out of this.

"Have you heard? Li-sensei has been called to the principal's office," one of her classmates exclaimed during their lunch break, catching the attention of the rest in the class. As Sakura couldn't wasn't in class for some period due to work and when she hardly interact with her classmates in school, she didn't know what her classmate's name was. "I bet he would be suspended! To think he is this kind of sleazy teacher who preys on his gullible student. Yuck!"

Sakura opened her mouth to protest when she remembered that she shouldn't attract too much attention to herself. Syaoran would surely understand her need to remain invisible in the situation.

The urge to run to the principal's office to explain the situation gnawed at her but she refused to be tempted. Syaoran knew the risks of letting her stay at his house and getting close to her so he should already have anticipated such an outcome. Perhaps the principal would just give him a warning and be more watchful over his actions. Nevertheless, it would be a wise decision to move out of his house in case people would investigate his house for clues. She made a mental count of how much she has so far. It should be sufficient to look for a cheap place to stay at the moment. Perhaps she would have to skip school again to earn her rent. She's getting tired of this kind of lifestyle. She made a mental note to grab her belongings after school and contact Tomoyo to ask if she could accommodate her for a night while she searched for a room to rent.

"I'm so glad that you're here!" Tomoyo exclaimed as she showed Sakura into her room for the night. "As I've said before, you are most welcome to stay for as long as you like! You don't have to worry about my parents since they are seldom around."

"I'm really sorry for troubling you. I couldn't find a place to stay for the night so... Um... Anyway, I will be finding a new place to rent and will be moving out in a day or two."

"That's too fast! You should at least stay for a week, a month and even a year and more!" Tomoyo wailed, grabbing Sakura's hands and squeezing them for emphasis. "You made it sound as if the two of us are strangers! That's mean!"

"Ah... I don't mean it that way!" Sakura explained. "It's just... I feel bad to be intruding here. Besides, your parents don't really like it whenever I come over..."

Tomoyo clucked her tongue impatiently. "Didn't I say you don't have to worry about them?" she said, pushing her wavy dark hair behind her ear. "I'll take care of them. You can stay here forever if you want to."

"I..."

"I insist! Another who dares to chase you out of the house will face my wrath," Tomoyo said, her hands balled into a fist in the air. "Hell yeah!"

Sakura gaped at her and then burst into laughter. "I can't believe you just said that!"

"What?" Tomoyo asked, sounding a little offended. "You mean _hell yeah_?" she asked, doing a fist pump in the air again. That only made Sakura laughed even harder and she had to clutch her aching sides.

"I think I'm going to enjoy staying with you for a while," Sakura said after her laughing fits has subsided. "At least until your parents come back. Don't try to talk me out of it. I've already decided."

"I already said that you don't have to worry about them." Tomoyo pouted and began sulking.

Sakura shook her head and smiled ruefully. "I don't want to cause a rift among your family. I'll be all right on my own, I promise."

"And the rent is expensive," Tomoyo protested, hoping Sakura would give in.

"Tomoyo-chan…" Sakura sighed. Her best friend could be very persistent when she wanted to be. "My decision is made."

"Fine," Tomoyo said as she walked to the door. "I'll have you know that my offer stands if you change your mind. This place will always be reserved for you."

Emotions swelled within Sakura as she was touched by Tomoyo's kind words. She suddenly had the urge to throw her arms around Tomoyo and hugged her to death but she restrained herself. What if Tomoyo didn't like that kind of closeness with her? It would be downright humiliating.

"Thank you," Sakura said softly. Tomoyo nodded her head in acknowledgement with a smile before she went out of the room, leaving Sakura alone for the night. Exhausted, Sakura plopped onto the king size bed and sighed. Many thoughts plagued her mind and the most nagging of them all was about Syaoran. Was he worried about her when he went home and found her missing? Should she call him? Wait. She didn't even have his number so how was she going to call him? "Let's just hope he isn't too worried," Sakura murmured as she stared at the ceiling until her eyelids turned heavy and she was soon drifting off into sleep.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

Opps! The secret's out? *anxious*

This chapter is a little short. I think I was having some minor writer's block at that point of time. Forgive me? *puppy eyes*


	16. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 15**

* * *

Sakura blinked at the sunlight shining on her face and squinted in response as she slowly came awake. She groaned at the unwelcomed disturbance and rolled further into the shadows, grateful for a few more moments of sleep.

When a quiet knock sounded on her door, she knew her sleeping time has finally come to an end. With another soft groan, she dragged herself off the bed to answer her door. She blinked at the young maid standing just outside her door.

"Um… Good morning?" Sakura greeted uncertainly and wondered why the maid was knocking on her door. Perhaps she was informing her that breakfast was ready. When the maid just continued to stare at her, she got a little self-conscious since she was still in her pajamas and her hair was in a big mess. "Can I help you?"

That seemed to wake the maid from whatever trance she was in. She hurried bowed in apology. "Good morning, Kinomoto-sama! We're here to help you get ready for the day."

"We? Get ready for the day?" Sakura asked, confused. Was this what Tomoyo did every day?

The maid bobbed her head and gestured to her right, which was obscured from Sakura since she was still standing in the room. She popped her head into the corridor and her eyes widened at the number of staff that were lined up neatly out there. "Why are they here?"

"To help you get dressed, of course!" The maid said proudly as if she was given a grand task. "We are to make sure that Kinomoto-sama look really pretty today."

Sakura shook her head and smiled her thanks. "I'll be fine on my own. Thanks for your offer though."

The maid looked crestfallen immediately upon her words. Sakura felt a little bad for declining the maid's offer. "Um… Will you do my hair later? I'll just pop into the bath and be out in a little while." The maid literally beamed at her as she opened the door wider for the entourage to step in.

"Take your time, Kinomoto-sama," the maid said. "We'll wait for you."

"Um… Thanks… I guess," Sakura replied, sounding a little awkward.

Sakura suffered through the tugs on her hair and pats on her face after her quick shower. The maid looked pleased with her arrangements as Sakura took a step back and faced the mirror. Even though she was still wearing the same school uniform, she looked somehow different.

"Kinomoto-sama is pretty," the maid, whose name Sakura had learnt was Rin, commented with a dreamy sigh. When Sakura turned back to look at her, she blushed and bowed her head.

"Thanks Rin," Sakura said as she straightened from the dressing table. "You have a way with the make-up. It looks natural on me."

Rin shook her head vehemently. "It's not my skills! It's all because Kinomoto-sama is pretty!"

"Thank you," Sakura said again.

Rin's face turned even redder. "If Kinomoto-sama is ready, Rin will bring you down for breakfast. Daidouji-sama should be there."

Sakura grabbed her bag, which she had packed the night before, and followed Rin down to the dining room. On the way there, she fished out her cell phone from her bag and was dismayed to find that the battery was flat. She'd have to ask Tomoyo to direct her to a power point so that she could charge her phone.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan!" Tomoyo squealed in delight when she spotted Sakura at the entrance to the dining room. She flew towards Sakura and pulled her to the table excitedly, showing her the breakfast spread. "I hope it's to your liking!"

"These look really delicious!" Sakura exclaimed and eyed the pancakes with interest, ignoring the rest of the items.

"Wait till you taste it!" Tomoyo urged Sakura into a chair before taking the seat opposite hers. "Well, dig in!"

They were halfway into their breakfast when Rin burst into the dining room looking frantic. She bowed at the both of them as she neared the table before rushing over to Tomoyo's side and whispering into her ear. Sakura's curiosity was piqued when Tomoyo's brow shot up in surprise.

"Did he say who he was?" Tomoyo asked Rin, her tone serious.

Rin shook her head. "He was very agitated when we spotted him at the gates. He refuses to go away even after we have dispatched our security guards over."

Tomoyo frowned and turned to look at Sakura apologetically. "Sakura-chan, I'm afraid I have to leave you alone for a while to attend to this. I'll be back as soon as I can. If you need anything, just ask any of the staff here and they'll be glad to help you."

Sakura nodded. "Don't be too long or we'll be late for school."

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Tomoyo promised as she pushed away from the table.

Tomoyo followed Rin out of the room, leaving Sakura with her breakfast. When she finished her plate of pancakes, she leaned back and patted her stuffed stomach with a blissful smile. It was delicious but somehow it wasn't as tasty as those that Syaoran made. Thinking about Syaoran reminded her of the scandal that was spreading within the school. If she didn't break down in front of him, they wouldn't be caught and this ugly thing wouldn't happen. Sakura felt responsible for whatever that was happening at the moment. She reaffirmed that it was a wise decision on her part to leave Syaoran's home before it turned even uglier.

Once her breakfast was done, she fished out her phone again and found an unused power socket in the corner of the dining room. She debated for a moment if she should use it but since there wasn't anyone around, she figured that it wouldn't hurt to plug the charger in for a few minutes just to check if anyone at the cosplay café tried to contact her while her phone's battery died. She heaved a sigh of relief when her phone turned on. So it was really just a flat battery and not a serious problem with her phone.

She blinked at the numbers of missed calls she received and took a look at the unfamiliar number reflected on her screen. "The cosplay café? Couldn't be. Junko-san always calls me using her cell phone." There were also messages. Sakura opened up one and gasped. _Muffin, where are you? Call me when you see my message. _Only one person would call her muffin. "Li-sensei?"

"Now I understand why you wouldn't reply to my messages," a voice behind her said, making her jump. She whirled around to face an irritated Syaoran and a wide eyed Tomoyo.

"Li-sensei! Sakura exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

Syaoran strolled into the room and plucked the cell phone from Sakura's hands to examine the small device. "Flat battery huh?" he commented dryly before placing it back on the tabletop. "So, why are you here?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, trying to ignore the suspicious looks that Tomoyo was throwing at them. "Isn't that the same question that I asked you just a few seconds ago?"

Cocking an eyebrow, Syaoran folded his arms on his chest and glared down at Sakura. "Why did you run away?"

"Well... About that..." Sakura trailed off, then cleared her throat when she realized that she was out of words. "Um... I actually wanted to let you know but... Somehow I forgot."

"You forgot?" Syaoran almost shouted in disbelief. "How could you forget such things? You made me so worried for the whole night!"

"You don't have to," Sakura said, totally pissed. Why was he so angry with her? "It's none of your business anyway."

"What?" Syaoran asked, narrowing his eyes at her. "What did you say?"

"I said," Sakura started, then paused to take in a huge breath. "It's none of your business!"

"Um... Sakura-chan, Li-sensei, what's going on?" Tomoyo asked softly, interrupting their banter. Sakura cast an apologetic look towards her best friend before glaring up at her homeroom teacher. "Li-sensei, you came just to look for Sakura-chan?"

"Yea," he replied, ruffling his messy hair. He eyed Tomoyo warily. "Can we trust you?"

Tomoyo blinked. "I guess so."

"Wait, Li-sensei!" Sakura interjected, realizing what he was about to do. Tomoyo would definitely be angry when she heard everything from Syaoran instead of her.

"What is it?" Tomoyo asked, ignoring Sakura's sudden outburst.

"That is to say... She's living with me."

Sakura groaned and slapped a hand against her face in dismay as she watched Tomoyo's face turned a shade paler. "She's _what_?" Tomoyo gasped, her eyes darting between Syaoran and Sakura. She shook her head in disbelief. "And you never told me about this?" she asked Sakura accusingly

Sakura winced in response. How was she going to salvage the situation without tarnishing Syaoran's reputation. "Well, it was only for a few days..."

Syaoran snorted. "More like a month."

"Sensei!" Sakura protested and glared at her teacher. "Can you not make the situation even worse than it is now?"

"You were staying with him for a month and you didn't even mention it to me?" Tomoyo asked, sounding hurt. "I'm your best friend!"

"Tomoyo-chan, I can explain," Sakura said. "This is not what it seems."

"What? Am I to assume that Li-sensei is lying?"

Sakura gritted her teeth in frustration. "No. He isn't lying."

"Then?"

"Tomoyo-chan..." Sakura swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at Tomoyo pleadingly. "I was kicked out of the house and he just happened to take me in until I am able to find a place to stay."

Tomoyo didn't reply but a few moments later she let out a gasp. "So the scandal is true?"

"No!" Syaoran and Sakura exclaimed simultaneously.

Tomoyo drew back, confused. "Then? So Sakura-chan is the student in that picture on the noticeboard, right?"

"Yes." Sakura let out a sigh. "And it's kind of my fault."

"No it isn't," Syaoran protested. "The only one at fault is me."

Sakura's heart sank at his words. So he did regret liking her already? It took only one picture to make him realize his mistake. So what then? Was he going to stay away from her like how she wanted him to initially?

"I don't know what to think of this," Tomoyo admitted. Her frown told Sakura that she wasn't taking the news very well. "On one hand, I'm happy for Sakura-chan because Li-sensei seems like a nice person. On the other hand, well... your relationship is going to be tough since it's actually a taboo..."

"We aren't a couple, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura said, looking away from Syaoran. She found it difficult to look at him in the eye when she said that. How she wished they were a couple and that they were just two normal people who could just fall in love without any troubles. "Li-sensei is just taking care of one of his students. That's all."

Tomoyo shook her head slowly, smiling ruefully. "With the way that he looks at you? I doubt so."

Syaoran had the audacity to blush at Tomoyo's words. He faked a cough and turned his head to the side so that Sakura wouldn't be able to see it. That caused Tomoyo to giggle. "He's just fooling around," Sakura said and her cheeks turned slightly pink. "Besides, there's really nothing going on between us. You'll have to take my word on it."

"Sure, whatever you say but that doesn't explain why he's here in my house and looking for you like a crazed man."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You'll never let it go, will you?"

"About things that concern you?" Tomoyo asked, tilting her head slightly to her side. "Nope. Not ever."

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

This is right in the middle of the whole story. Chapter 15! Wow! How time flies right? This is a good thing and there's a bad thing too-I'm still at Chapter 24. *laughs* Feeling a little demotivated but I'm still progressing albeit at a slower pace. Send me some love? *puppy eyes*

P.S. Do you know Sensei, I Love You is also available on Wattpad? You can now read it on your mobile devices!


	17. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP, not me.

I think you may like this Chapter. Hmm... Just thinking. ;)

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**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 16**

* * *

Sakura tapped her feet against the carpeted floor of the car as she stared at the passing view. It was a vain attempt to get her mind off the unwavering stare that were directed at her. She let out a soft sigh before turning her own gaze to her best friend. "Is there something on my face?" Sakura asked, sounding a little irritated.

"Nope!" Tomoyo answered immediately and averted her gaze. "There's nothing on your face," she mumbled.

Sakura narrowed her eyes on Tomoyo suspiciously. Her friend has been very quiet ever since Syaoran burst into her house and Sakura knew what was in her mind. "I know you have some questions but I'll tell you this—there's nothing going on between me and Li-sensei. He's just offering me a room in his house to sleep in. Nothing more."

Tomoyo turned slowly to face Sakura, curiosity etched on her face. "But why? He could have called for a female teacher."

Sakura shrugged. "I don't know. You have to ask him that for yourself."

"And the way he looks at you… isn't what a homeroom teacher's supposed to be."

"I told you—"

"There's nothing going on between you and Li-sensei," Tomoyo interrupted sharply, suddenly irked by Sakura's refusal to answer her truthfully. "Yes, I understand that perfectly now. You can lie to yourself, Sakura-chan but you can't lie to others. You know what you are feeling as well… I can see that in your eyes."

"That's ridiculous! Besides, Li-sensei is our homeroom _teacher_ in case you have forgotten. Being in a relationship with his student is a taboo. It just can't happen."

"That's what you are worried about?" Tomoyo asked.

"What? No! I'm not worried about anything!"

"Yeah… Yeah…" Tomoyo muttered. "Trying to lie to yourself again."

Sakura couldn't find a retort to that so she just remained silent. She turned her attention to the window and sighed. If only they weren't a student and a teacher. Things would definitely be much different.

"Just so that you know, teachers won't get that worried over their students," Tomoyo said softly beside her. "And how Li-sensei behaved at my house definitely wasn't how a teacher should be like."

"He's just worried that I disappeared without leaving a note for him."

"You are not going to admit that you like him and he likes you back, are you?" Tomoyo asked, quirking a brow at her.

"There's nothing to admit," Sakura replied harshly. "I'm a student and he is my teacher. It's that simple."

Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "Oh come on! When did you become so old fashioned in your thinking? You are a beautiful girl and he's a handsome and available guy. What's stopping the two of you?"

Sakura felt heat creeping up her cheeks at the discussion. "For goodness sake, Tomoyo, could you just leave it at that?"

"I can't! Not when my best friend is being so obstinate."

"Fine!" Sakura exclaimed, flinging both hands in the air in exasperation. "I like him, all right? I like him so much that I'm about to die. Satisfied now?"

Tomoyo crossed her arms and eyed Sakura with a grim expression. "That's slightly more like it."

"So you understand why I need to distance myself," Sakura added. Tomoyo shook her head but Sakura didn't have the heart to explain it to her best friend. She sighed. "That's all you need to know, Tomoyo-chan. That's all you need to know."

English class was a torture with Syaoran staring at her almost all the time from the front of the classroom. Aggravated by the situation, Sakura propped her book on the table to cover her face and sank lower onto her seat, earning some curious glances from her classmates nearby. She was glad that it was the last class for the day and she would be out of the school and away from him.

A few minutes later, she peeked over the top of the book at Syaoran and was dismayed to find that he was still staring at her even as he continued with his lesson. Her eyes widened in surprise as she dropped her head onto the table, wincing at the sharp knock on her chin. That got to bruise.

"Are you all right, Kinomoto-san?" Syaoran asked, concern lacing in his words.

Sakura straightened her spine the moment she heard her name being called out. All eyes in the class swirled to her and she felt cold sweat pouring from her forehead. "Um… Yes," she replied shakily and lowered her gaze to her table.

"Well, if everything's fine then we shall continue with our assignment," Syaoran announced cheerfully.

Sakura frowned. Why was he so happy out of a sudden? Shaking her head, she turned her attention to the words on the pages and tried to understand the long passages. Before she knew it, the words were swirling in front of her eyes. Darn, she was sleepy. Well, it wouldn't hurt for her to shut her eyes for a few moments since the book was still creating a small barrier on her table. She should be safe.

At least she thought it was. Except that she slept till the English class ended and even beyond that. She woke up and her eyes were groggy with sleep. She blinked at the classroom and let out a gasp of surprise when she realized that all her classmates were gone. "I overslept!"

"Just be glad that I'm your teacher," a voice drawled out behind her, causing her heart to stop beating momentarily. "You would have gotten yourself into some serious detention if it's not me."

Sakura whirled around in her seat to find Syaoran sitting at the seat behind her. He looked relaxed with his hands behind his head and his legs propping on the top of the table. He shot her a lazy grin causing butterflies to dance in her stomach. "Li-sensei!"

"Well, you were sleeping so peacefully that I felt as if it was a sin to wake you up," he explained with a simple shrug of his shoulders. "Besides, it gives us an opportunity to take since we are alone in the school."

Her eyes widened when she saw the time on the clock hanging in the classroom. It was an hour after the last class of the day and everyone would have left the school already. "Why did I fall asleep?" Sakura muttered to herself.

In one quick movement, Syaoran removed his feet on the table and leaned close to press a quick kiss on Sakura's cheek. It was so fast that Sakura was unable to react to the unexpected gesture. "You really have me worried, you know?" he chided gently. "Why did you run away?"

Her pink cheeks must have given her expression away for Syaoran was grinning broadly at her. "Um… Well… Since I can stay at Tomoyo-chan's place, I figured it would be better and safer for you and for the both of us."

"Oh… So there is a _both of us _now?" Syaoran asked teasingly. He got up from his seat and walked to Sakura's, pulling her up and settling his hands on her slim hips. Sakura's sharp intake of air pleased him very much. It showed that she was as affected by their nearness as he was. "Is there?"

Sakura could not bring her face up to see him and she just kept her eyes on the buttons of his shirt He chuckled briefly before gently gripping her chin using his thumb and forefinger and bringing her face up to his.

"So?" he prompted, looking deeply into her emerald eyes.

Sakura's lips opened slightly. She knew she should say something or at least do something like moving away from him and keeping a respectable distance. However, she couldn't bring herself to do just that. The heat radiating from the hand on her hip was slowly warming her up. She leaned slightly against his larger frame, craving for more of his heat.

"There is no us," Sakura answered quietly. Her gaze flicked to his lips before darting to his eyes. "There is only you. I can only see you."

"And I, you." He tipped her face even higher to his and leaned down ever so slowly, giving her the chance to free herself and hoping that she didn't.

"We shouldn't," Sakura murmured even as he leaned closer to her lips.

"I don't care," he replied and captured her sweet lips in her, molding his lips to hers.

Sakura's eyelids fluttered close and her breath hitched as she felt Syaoran's hot lips on her own. He was gentle with her. It was as though she was a little fragile thing that needed to be protected and handled with care. She clutched his arms for stability as she stood on tip toes, pressing her lips eagerly to his. Her mind whirled and everything faded away in the background. Syaoran slanted his lips over hers and her hands snaked up his muscular body to his neck, pulling him closer for even more.

A low growl escaped his lips a scant second before he pulled apart from her, the both of them breathing heavily. Sakura's eyes were glazed over as she unwound her hands from his neck and placed them on the top of his arm for support. She felt weak from his kiss. It was as if both her legs had turned into jelly and if it weren't for his strong arm supporting her waist, she would have crumpled into a heap on the ground.

"Don't run away from me," he told her. His husky voice sent a pleasant shiver down Sakura's spine and her hands tightened on his arm. He pressed his forehead against her. "Everything will be all right. Trust me."

Sakura was speechless. How did Syaoran manage to nail down to the root of her insecurity? She nodded her head and pressed her face into his shoulder blade, her shyness suddenly overcoming her. Syaoran chuckled and was content with just hugging her to him in their classroom.

"You are so going to regret this," Sakura mumbled, her lips moving against the fabric of his shirt.

"I'll not," he promised, clutching her even closer to him. "Never."

"People will say that you are a pedophile."

"Let them say all they want. I don't care."

"Well, there are so many attractive guys in this school that are about my age," she teased.

"I'll never let you go." His voice was hard.

"You'll lose your job if people find out."

He gently disengaged from Sakura's grasp as he pulled back from her. "At least I'll still have you." He took her hand up and pressed a kiss on her palm with his eyes close, seeming to enjoy it. Sakura's eyes widened in surprise and then turned tender at his gesture. She tried pulling her hand away but Syaoran held on, opening his eyes to look at her. "I'll not let go, ever," he promised.

Sakura was at a loss of words. She only nodded her head in response to what he had said and kept her head down.

"Come on, I'll send you back," he said after a few moment of silence.

"You will?" Sakura asked, surprised. "But we are in school and riding on your bike seems… inappropriate given that I'm in my uniform…"

Syaoran chuckled. "Don't worry about it. There's no one else around to witness it."

"Wait a moment…" Sakura frowned at him as questions filled her head. She had been too sidetracked by Syaoran's action earlier. "Where's Tomoyo-chan? She's supposed to be waiting for me."

"Well, she did come to look for you earlier," Syaoran admitted, looking sheepish. "I told her to go back first."

Sakura shook her head. "I can't believe you did that. Besides, it's too dangerous for the both of us to be seen together."

"There's nothing to worry about. Nobody will recognize us. I assure you that."

"You're confident," she remarked.

"Trust me," he said again and this time, he sent her a wink.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

So how was it? I hope I did the last part well, tell me if it's otherwise. :)

It was a hectic week for me (due to nature of my work) and I apologize for not being able to reply to reviews even though I've read them on my phone a couple of times to keep me motivated. Please continue to keep the reviews coming! *puppy eyes*


	18. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

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**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 17**

* * *

"Um… Care to tell me why you brought me here? I'm supposed to be at Tomoyo-chan's."

"What? Don't you miss the spacious house that you have been living in for the past few months?"

Sakura crossed her arms, tapping a finger on her chin as she thought playfully. "Well, for your information, Tomoyo-chan's house is much more spacious and _luxurious_. Yours can't compare with hers at all."

Syaoran faked a hurt expression. "I can't believe this! I spent lots on this house!"

"Blame your architect," she replied and stuck her tongue out at him. "Seriously, I need to go back to Tomoyo-chan's place. After all that napping after school, I badly need some time to finish my homework."

"Well, I guess it's a good thing that all your things are here."

Sakura's jaws almost fell to the ground. "What?"

"I said all your things are here."

"Why? How?"

"Magic." He made a show of waving his hands in the air as if he was making things appear in front of them.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Stop being childish."

"I thought it looks cute?"

Sakura choked on her laughter. This guy was going to give her a laughing fit if she wasn't careful around him. Who knew that her serious homeroom teacher had this side of him. She bet the girls in school would go crazy if they found out about this. "Well, for your information, there is no way that you can look cute."

"I guess I've have to try harder then," he said with a grin. His keys jingled as he unlocked the front door and stepped inside, leaving Sakura with no choice but to follow him in. "I'll whip up some dinner for us. You can go up and take a bath or do whatever you want."

"I miss Tomoyo-chan's chef already."

"My cooking isn't that bad," Syaoran whined. He put his helmet on the shoe rack by the entrance and moved deeper into the house. "I bet I can win your stomach with my specialty."

"Oh? I look forward to that," Sakura quipped and headed upstairs into the room Syaoran had kindly let her used. True to his words, all her belongs were there—just three big bags. Those were her only belongings and not forgetting her family picture which was now sitting on the small bedside cupboard. She flipped her cellphone and punched a few numbers before pressing it to her ears. The call was answered on the third ring.

"Sakura-chan?" Tomoyo's sweet voice rang in her ears.

"So, were you expecting my call?" Sakura asked, walking over to the windows and looked out at the quiet neighbourhood.

Tomoyo's voice faltered. "Well… I know you are angry about this…"

"I'm not angry," Sakura swiftly interrupted. It was the truth. In fact, she felt a little relieved to be back at Syaoran's place. This allowed her additional time together with him. "Just a little shocked. You even managed to pack all my things within such a short notice!"

"I'll have to thank my friends at my house for that," Tomoyo replied cheerily.

Sakura giggled. "I still can't believe you did this."

"And while we are talking about the issue of shock, can you please tell me why didn't you let me know where you are staying?" Tomoyo asked. "You made me look like a goldfish when Li-sensei broke the truth to me! Oh my gosh! The two of you are actually staying together!"

Sakura winced at the sharp squeal on the other line. She held her cellphone an arm's length away from her ear until Tomoyo settled down. "Um… That's kind of difficult to say, isn't it?" Sakura countered, sitting down on her bed and fingered her photograph. "And not to mention that it's discriminating."

"Hey, who do you think I am?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura could feel irritation emanating from her tone. "I'm your best friend! Of course I'll keep mum about it!"

"All right. So I'm telling you now that I'm staying at Sensei's place until I can get a place on my own. I could have stayed with you and get out of this whole mess you know, and you just had to push me back here."

"Can't help it if the Sensei in question is very persuasive," Tomoyo replied.

"I'm still moving out of this house. The sooner the better," Sakura said. "I wouldn't want anyone to find out about my living arrangement and make a fuss out of it."

"Oh… I haven't thought about that."

Sakura rolled her eyes. Knowing Tomoyo, she would be chuckling like a mad mother hen to get Sakura to find a guy and when Syaoran came along, what Tomoyo did was to give a little push. Okay… a _mighty_ push. "Of course you didn't."

"Bah! It doesn't matter now because no one else knows about this and I know you are somewhat glad about this arrangement."

Sakura gasped. "I'm not!"

"Whatever you say," Tomoyo replied, giggling a little. "Ah! My mother just summoned me. I need to go. Will you give our dearest Sensei a little kiss for me?"

Sakura made a face at Tomoyo's request even though she couldn't see her. "Ew, no. That's just so wrong." She blushed, suddenly remembering what happened in school earlier.

"There's nothing wrong in love," Tomoyo stated. "Nothing."

"So… did anything interesting happen yesterday?" Tomoyo asked. She charged into Sakura's class the moment the lunch bell rang, scarring the crap out of her.

Sakura's eyes widened as she sneaked glances at her classmates, wondering if they overheard what Tomoyo was asking. She gave Tomoyo a pointed glance, warning her without words to speak only when they were alone. She grabbed her lunch box, courtesy of Syaoran, and dragged Tomoyo out of the classroom to the rooftop, where she knew they would have the privacy they needed.

"Tomoyo-chan, you need to be careful when we are talking about the issue," Sakura said after making sure she had locked the door leading to the rooftop. "I can't risk Sensei's reputation in school."

Tomoyo's eyes lit up. "So, something _did_ happen after all!"

Sighing, Sakura nodded her head. She won't be able to lie to her friend. "We… um… k-kissed…"

The resulting squeal was so loud that Sakura thought she had gone deaf. Tomoyo jumped half a foot into the air in excitement before pulling Sakura's hands and spinning her around in circles. "You two lovebirds!" Tomoyo said laughingly. "I can't believe that the two of you progressed this fast! Wasn't it just yesterday that you said it's a taboo?"

"Well… As you've said before, Sensei can be very persuasive," Sakura replied with a blush. She played with the hem of her skirt. "But I'm still worried."

Tomoyo sighed heavily and sat down by the door and leaned against the wall. That was the only area which was sheltered on the rooftop. Sakura raised her brow at Tomoyo's disregard of cleanliness. Her laundry maid would be distressed if they found their mistress's uniform dirtied.

"Just bear with it for another one and a half years. You can do anything you want after that," Tomoyo said with a wriggle of her eyebrows. Sakura gaped at her suggestion, at what she could do. Her face bloomed even redder.

"You are embarrassing me!" Sakura exclaimed. "I'm not talking about _that_!"

"No?"

"No!" Sakura affirmed. "I'm still underage!"

"Well, you won't be underage when you graduate," Tomoyo stated as a matter of a fact. "That leaves you freedom to do things you like."

Sakura slapped a hand on her forehead in exasperation. "I can believe I'm talking to you about this."

Tomoyo giggled. "Teasing my dear friend is so fun."

Sakura shook her head ruefully and sat down beside Tomoyo. She opened the lunch box and stared at the food Syaoran had prepared for her. Did he wake up earlier specially to prepare lunch for her? How did he know she seldom ate in school, just so that she could save up some money? Tomoyo leaned over to peek at the contents and squealed yet again. "Food from your darling? That man is a keeper!"

"Just because he cooks?"

"Usually, isn't the girl who cooks and prepares lunch for their boyfriends?" Tomoyo prompted. "So, this arrangement is pretty unusual."

"I'm a bad girlfriend then?" Sakura sounded worried.

"I wouldn't say that," Tomoyo assured. "It's plain for all to see that he really treasures you well."

"Oh…" Sakura blushed again. "But he loves to tease me."

"Don't fall for their trick," Tomoyo warned. "Guys love to tease the girls they like. I guess it is the same for Li-sensei."

"I need to find some ways to avoid his teasings," Sakura said in between mouthful of food. "It's getting worse every day."

"Then, that just goes to show that he likes you even more every day."

"I hope so," Sakura mumbled in reply.

English lesson was turned into a self-study period since the teacher was away for urgent business. Sakura frowned at the textbook in front of her, wondering why he didn't tell her about it. What could it be that he couldn't wait until school was over? Family? It couldn't be, because he hadn't said anything about his family ever since she lived under the same roof with him.

She realized that she was reading the same passage twice without comprehending a single word. She sighed and closed the book, leaning on her arms on the table and looking out of the window. School would be over in another ten minutes and she couldn't wait to get home and see if Syaoran was there.

Students were whispering among themselves in the halls when Sakura came out from her classroom. Her brows furrowed in confusion. Something must have happened to elicit such responses from the students. She shrugged and walked on, not the least interested in whatever they were talking about. She stopped short at the top of the small slight of stairs leading out of the school building.

"Oh and here she comes." A familiar voice sounded. "And look at how shocked she is to see me here."

Sakura was frozen to the spot, staring at the imposing figure by the sleek black expensive looking car that was parked at one of the parking lot meant for the teachers. Sakura couldn't think of one single reason for his presence in school. Was he looking for Syaoran? He wasn't here.

Eriol sighed and unfolded his arms, beckoning her forward. "We don't have much time. Come."

Sakura heard the murmurs from the students around her. She could feel their burning gazes on her and she couldn't keep her shudder at bay. "What are you doing here?" Sakura asked. She had the right to feel suspicious of the man she barely knew.

Eriol held her gaze and didn't break eye contact when he shortened the distance between them to drag her forward to his car. Sakura didn't have a chance to struggle because Eriol was being forceful. Fear crept up within Sakura at his display of strength. She tried resisting him and pulling herself away from the car, but Eriol had already successfully thrown her into the passenger seat. "If you dare to jump out from the car, I swear that I'm going to do some bodily damage when I catch you."

His threat effectively stopped Sakura's struggles. She shivered when Eriol threw her another warning gaze before slamming the door shut and moving to the other side of the car to get in to the driver's seat. The engine roared to live and the car sped out of the school.

"Where are you taking me?" Sakura asked quietly, afraid that he would flare up again.

Eriol rolled his eyes. "And she likes to ask questions."

"Where?" Sakura repeated.

"You'll know when you get there," Eriol snapped. "Just keep quiet and let me drive in peace."

Sakura gulped and she knew better than to test his patience.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

Things are going to get a little slower from now on. I think. And there'll be some confusion! Current status of the entire fic still stands at Chapter 24. I'm forever at that chapter. *sobs* At the rate that I'm going, I probably have to take a few weeks off to write... Meanwhile, there's still 6 chapters to enjoy! So I have a month to play catch-up!

Anyway, just to let you know that Sensei, I Love You is also available on Wattpad, where you can read them on the go.


	19. Chapter 18

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me. (How I wish...)

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 18**

* * *

Sakura was surprised when Eriol brought her back to Syaoran's house. He stopped his car outside the gates and looked at the beautiful house for a few seconds before turning his gaze to her. She almost shrank against the passenger door but she forced herself to remain calm. She didn't want to show her weakness in front of him.

She watched as he slid his seatbelt off and she did the same thing with jerky hands. "Pack your things. We have to leave as soon as we can," he ordered, reaching over to the passenger door to open the door for her. She sucked in a breath at their closeness and scrambled out of the car when she got the chance.

"Why?" She shouted her question while she bent low so that she could see him.

"I said I'll explain it but now is not the best time. You need to hurry," he urged.

"But why should I pack my things? Sensei said that it is all right for me to live with him!" Sakura was close to hysterics. Where would she go if she couldn't live with Syaoran? She couldn't just waltz into Tomoyo's house and request for lodgings. She just couldn't trouble Tomoyo again. She mentally counted the little money she had saved from working over the weekends. Still, it wasn't enough for her to rent a small room for a few days. "Why?"

"I will only be able to explain a little. Syaoran will be the best person to explain it to you but as you know, he is held back by the meeting. So could you please believe me—us—when I say that this is the best choice for the moment?"

"Meeting? What meeting?"

"And she asks even more questions…" Eriol muttered and shut his eyes briefly to control his temper. They didn't have much time to waste bantering over little things. "Just pack!" he bellowed and that sent Sakura skittering into the house.

Since she didn't have many things to begin with, she packed easily. The room was cleared within as little as ten minutes. With the two big bags in her hands and her precious picture frame secured safely in one of the bags, she trudged down the stairs and flew out of the door. Eriol was waiting at the boot of the car and he motioned for Sakura to quicken her steps.

"We'll be heading to the hotel," Eriol explained after both of them got into the car. "You'll probably be staying there for a few days until everything dies down a little."

"What thing?" Sakura urged, hoping he would divulge more information.

"I'm wondering if you are dense. Do you really think a teacher's salary would allow Syaoran to buy a house as grand as that?"

Sakura blinked. She knew she thought about that before but she never brought the subject up. If Syaoran wanted to say, he would say it on his own without her prodding. "I'm not stupid."

"Well, I'm glad you're not," Eriol replied with a slight grin. It was just a twitch on the corner of his mouth but she spotted it nevertheless.

"So? What has it got to do with me having to stay in a hotel which I cannot afford?"

"I'll leave that to Syaoran to explain," Eriol said. He didn't want to mess with Syaoran's plans if things didn't work out the way they should.

Being alone with Eriol was unnerving, especially when he was still considered as a total stranger to her. Even though he had taken care of her while she was sick, it was due to Syaoran's pressure that Eriol did it. Besides, she hasn't seen him since that time.

Sakura took a peek at Eriol and found him totally absorbed in the news being broadcasted on the TV screen. Other than the melodious voice of the newscaster, the room was quiet—so quiet even the whirling of air-condition seemed so loud to her.

"And she stares as if I didn't have an inkling of what she's doing," Eriol muttered suddenly. He turned his gaze from the TV to her, and watched as her face brightened before turning her eyes away hastily. "What do you want from me?"

"Nothing!" Sakura blurted out, shifting further to the other end of the sofa and away from Eriol.

Eriol switched off the TV and turned to face her. She knew he was watching her from the prolonged silence between them. "You have been staring at me for the past hour and you say there's nothing? Or perhaps you have fallen for my charms?"

"W-what? No!" Sakura cried out.

Digging out his cell phone from his suit pocket, he punched some numbers into it. "I should gloat about this to Syaoran. It would be fun to watch his expression."

"No!" Sakura lunged forward to snatch Eriol's phone away but he kept it out of reach easily.

"If you don't want me to let him know, tell me."

Sakura crossed her arms in defiance and sat back on the sofa. "I didn't know you are such a mean person!"

Eriol rolled his eyes. "There're lots of things you don't know about me. Lots."

A vein ticked on Sakura's forehead upon hearing Eriol's sarcastic remark. Sakura picked up the remote control and turned on the TV, totally ignoring Eriol as she selected a movie channel. She heard Eriol sighed and then felt the sofa shift a little as he got up and headed to the bar counter. He returned with two glasses of drink and handed one glass filled with pinkish liquid to Sakura.

"What's this?" Sakura asked, not wanting to accept anything from the annoying man.

"Just sparkling juice," Eriol replied. "I can't give alcoholic drink to minors."

"Thanks," Sakura murmured and waited until Eriol sat on the other end of the sofa before sipping her drink. Her lips froze on the rim of the glass as the scene in the movie caught her attention. Her grip on her wineglass tightened, threatening to break the fragile glass into millions of tiny pieces. She suddenly felt very cold and she was trembling. She heard Eriol call her but she couldn't turn her attention away. She couldn't hear anything except the screeching of tires, the shattering of the wind shield and windows and the screams of her family members.

No… It can't happen!

_Otou-san!_

_Oka-san!_

'_Nii-chan!_

Sakura screamed.

Her feet were unsteady as she stood up, her gaze still locked on the TV. The wineglass in her hand was forgotten and it clattered to the carpeted ground. The wineglass shattered despite the cushion. She clapped a hand to her mouth, feeling very sick out of a sudden. Without warning, she made a mad dash to the bathroom and retched.

"Hey, are you all right?"

_No… I'm not…_

_I'm never going to be all right…_

Sakura was too busy heaving her guts out to actually reply Eriol. Many gruesome images flashed across her mind and sent an onslaught of pain. She lay spent against the wall inside the small bathroom of the hotel room gasping for air. Sweat rolled down her face even though it was pretty cold inside the room.

She closed her eyes, shutting herself from the real world and tried not to think of the intense scene from the drama. After she tried so hard to forget, everything came back to her with just a few seconds of drama. She let out a little laugh at her pathetic plight. It's going to be a week or more of sleepless nights.

"Muffin?"

Sakura blinked open her eyes just as warm hands enveloped her cheeks. Her eyes collided with worried amber ones. "Sen-sei…?"

"I rushed here as soon as I received Eriol's call," Syaoran said, moving to scoop Sakura up into his arms. She was powerless to resist and just lay limp in his arms. "You scared the hell out of me."

"Hiiragizawa-san worried too much," Sakura said. "Nothing happened."

"Nothing? If nothing happened, why were you practically fainting in the bathroom?"

"I didn't faint."

"You almost did," Syaoran protested. "Now you need to rest. Do you want me to call a doctor over?"

The queasiness in her stomach hasn't settled down but it wasn't a big deal. "I don't need a doctor. I'll feel better after some rest."

"I'll be here when you wake up," Syaoran said. He leaned forward and pressed a lingering kiss on her forehead. "Sweet dreams, muffin."

Surprisingly, Sakura had a peaceful sleep. She thought that nightmares would plague her throughout the whole night just like the period after the crash. That was a difficult period and she lost so much weight over the nightmares and sleepless nights.

Stifling a yawn, she sat up on the bed and was caught off guard by the sight of the sleeping Syaoran beside her. A small smile turned up the corner of her lips. Was he the one who chased the nightmares away? She really hoped so.

Syaoran scrunched his nose in his sleep and rolled over onto his side facing Sakura. She was startled when Syaoran moved his arm to pull her close to him. She collapsed into his embrace and squealed in response when she felt his hand on her bottom. He didn't seem to know what he was doing and continued his slumber. Without thinking, she pinched his hand—hard—and scrambled away from him when he released his hold on her immediately.

"Ouch!" He exclaimed as he shot away, rubbing the reddening patch on the top of his hand. "What's that for?"

"Y-you… you were…" Sakura could form the words on her mouth.

"What?" Syaoran prompted, grinning slightly. That was when Sakura realized something.

"You were awake!" She grabbed the pillow from her side and flung it at Syaoran's head. "I can't believe you're a pervert!"

Syaoran dodged the flying pillow and chuckled. "I can't help it if my muffin is especially cute."

"Perverted homeroom teacher!"

"Handsome," Syaoran interjected. "You must mention handsome as well."

"I refuse!"

"Then I'll have to keep you locked in this room until you say that." Syaoran was grinning and it was clear that he was teasing her. Sakura pressed her lips together, refusing to comply. She'd rather stay in this room than compliment her idiotic homeroom teacher and a perverted one at that. "Your final decision?"

"No!"

Syaoran sighed dramatically. "Well… I guess I have no choice but to keep you under lock and key."

Sakura blew an exasperated breath as she watched Syaoran saunter into the bathroom. She wondered if Syaoran has ever been serious before. "Wait! You haven't told me why I have to stay here!" Sakura shouted loud enough for her voice to carry into the bathroom. She pouted when she got no reply.

"I need you to stay here for a few days. Skip school. I'll come up with excuse for you," Syaoran said as he got out. That earned him a raised brow from Sakura. Knowing that she would argue, he pressed on. "I know that sounds ridiculous but I really need you to stay here."

Sakura folded her arms across her chest. "Then you need to explain it to me. Skipping school is a big deal."

Syaoran had the gall to look amused. "A big deal? To you?"

"Well… I didn't have much choice in the past…"

"That's true though," he said and dropped onto the bed beside her.

"Tell me why."

He looked worried for a moment, so totally different from his idiotic demeanor that Sakura was used to. "Something happened within my family. That's all that I can say. Please don't ask me anymore questions."

"But—"

Syaoran pressed a finger to Sakura's soft lips, effectively silencing her. "Don't ask. I'll let you go to school if you agree to come back here straight after your classes. How's that?"

Sakura nodded in agreement but that didn't mean that she wouldn't pester him for answers. She'd have to wait till she got to school to start her mission.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

Anyone with questions out there? I think there's going to be many of you. The answer will be out in the next few chapters! :D Anyway, good news is that my writer's block seems to be over. I'm one-third into the _new_ Chapter 24. (Yes, I re-wrote it...). The whole story should be ending at around Chapter 30. Want another good news? I'm re-writing Be My Valentine! Not sure if I'll be re-posting it on FFNet. We'll see how it goes then. :)

By the way, Sensei, I Love You is also available on Wattpad, where you can vote for the chapter! ;)


	20. Chapter 19

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 19**

* * *

"Sakura-chan, there you are!" Tomoyo chimed, weaving through the crowd to get to Sakura. "I've been looking for you for the whole day!"

Sakura smiled apologetically at her friend. "Sorry. I was out of the classroom during lunch break."

"What's wrong?" The dejected look on Sakura's face was worrying Tomoyo. Sakura was always cheerful and it was rare to see her feel so down.

"I don't know… It just feels so weird… Why didn't he come to school lately?"

Understanding lit up Tomoyo's eyes. "You're talking about Li-sensei?"

Sakura nodded and turned her grave eyes on Tomoyo. "He wasn't feeling sick today and there's something that he's hiding from me."

Tomoyo looked around nervously. "This isn't the place to discuss this. Shall we go to my house?"

"I promised sensei I will go back straight after school."

"A few hours won't hurt you if he doesn't know about it," Tomoyo said. When Sakura remained uncertain, Tomoyo just grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the school gates, where her family car was waiting. The guards who stood at attention bowed when they spotted them and even opened the passenger door. "Thank you," Tomoyo murmured to them and granted them a brilliant smile.

"Maybe he regretted his decision and decided to switch schools just to get away from me." Sakura chuckled and leaned against the glass window. "Ah… I probably shouldn't think too much."

"You're so silly!" Tomoyo exclaimed before digging the something from a small pile of magazine in the car. She threw one onto Sakura's lap. "I always thought Li-sensei was familiar and found my answer when I randomly flipped through this pile the other day."

"Top CEO?" Sakura stared at the cover, not knowing what Tomoyo wanted her to see. An article? "I didn't know you are into such magazines, Tomoyo-chan."

"It wasn't as if I had any choice in this." Tomoyo snatched the magazine away. She flipped the pages rigorously until she reached a page and then pushed the magazine back into Sakura's hands. "Here! Read this!"

"I'm not into reading business magazines," Sakura grumbled but she looked at it as instructed. Her eyes almost popped out at the picture and the name in the magazine. She turned her incredulous gaze to Tomoyo. "Tell me this isn't true. Sensei... This CEO here..."

Tomoyo looked apologetically at Sakura and that was all the answer that she needed. Sakura would have bolted out of the car if it wasn't moving. She took in a few calming breaths before she started to read the long article on Syaoran. Her trembling hands made the process difficult, coupled with the motion of the car they were in. By the time she finished the entire article, she was nearing tears.

"Sakura-chan, don't get so worked up," Tomoyo said when she saw the expression on her friend's face. Sakura looked ready to break into tears. "I know you're thinking why he kept something so important from you. I mean... he probably isn't really a teacher but think this way—why did he come to this school to teach? Why was he so interested in knowing you and caring about you. You have to hear the truth from him and not form accusations based on what you read from the article."

"Well-known," Sakura muttered. "Widely sought after rich bachelor..."

"It's a wonder how he managed to conceal his identity," Tomoyo remarked. "And he was using his real name all these times. If my family isn't in this big industry, I would never have come across his name."

The car was turning into the street where Tomoyo's house was located. It was only a short ride from the school to Tomoyo's place. Sakura returned the magazine to Tomoyo with a smile but the crumpled pages betrayed her inner emotions. "I know that we are nearing your place, but can you drop me off at sensei's?"

"You're going to talk to him?"

Sakura nodded but her face was devoid of expression.

"Like a sensible adult?"

Sakura snorted. "I'm not about to scream at him, if that is what you are asking."

"Right, that's good to hear," Tomoyo said with a grin. She instructed her chauffer to turn back and head to Syaoran's house at the other street.

Sakura was quiet throughout the remaining journey, staring out of the window with a brooding expression. Conflicting emotions and thoughts were waging a war within her and causing her a mild headache. She didn't want to think too much. All she wanted was the truth and she hoped Syaoran was ready to give them to her.

xxx

"Are you sure you don't want me to follow you in?" Tomoyo asked for the third time, stopping Sakura from stepping through the gates of Syaoran's front yard. "I can give you mental and moral support by going with you."

Sakura threw her a grateful smile. "I can handle this on my own, Tomoyo-chan. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine."

"But..."

Sakura pushed Tomoyo back into the car. "You have to get back before Aunt Sonomi does. I wouldn't want her to be worried about you for staying out late."

"Are you really going to be all right?"

"Yes!" Sakura said with a sigh. Tomoyo could be a worry wart sometimes to the point of exasperation. "If you are not convinced, I can give you a call after I talked to sensei."

"I'll hold you to your words then," Tomoyo said. "But if you need me..."

"I'll call you immediately if I need your help." Sakura nodded to emphasize that she meant what she said. Tomoyo seemed to be satisfied by that because she smiled and instructed her chauffer to bring her back.

Sakura waited until the car disappeared from her view at the end of the street. Her cheerful expression dropped the moment Tomoyo left. She only appeared to be fine with everything for Tomoyo's benefit. Sakura knew her friend would go to great lengths just to help her and she didn't want to trouble her.

Sakura took a hesitant step into the house. It was quiet inside and the drawn curtains cast shadows throughout the spacious room. "Sensei? Li-sensei?" she called out, fervently hoping that he would be at home. The padding of footsteps from the second floor alerted her that he was actually at home and eager to see her. She stood patiently at the entranceway and waited for him to come down.

"Who's there?" A shrill female voice rang as the thudding of feet got even louder. The smile froze on Sakura's face as her heart plummeted. "Oh! Hi there!" The woman with cat-like eyes exclaimed once she saw Sakura.

Sakura remembered her manners and bowed stiffly. Her thoughts were warring within her mind, making her even more confused than before. Was this why Syaoran wanted her to stay in the hotel? Just because this woman was to stay in this house?

'_Who are you'_ was the question Sakura wanted to ask but she couldn't form the words. It was as if her throat wasn't cooperating with her; afraid that the answer she received would ultimately cause her harm. "I think I got the wrong house," Sakura said, wincing slightly at the lie she made to escape from the situation.

The woman tilted her head slightly to the side as she appraised Sakura before tapping a finger to her lips. A grin slowly spread across her face, sending shudders up Sakura's spine. "I don't think so." Sakura gasped in surprise. The woman covered her mouth and giggled elegantly. "I always keep a tab on what _my Syaoran _is doing. This time he has really overstepped his bounds. What is he thinking to seduce a young girl such as you? Oh, I'm so disappointed in him. Shame on him."

Sakura gritted her teeth—as much as she wanted to protest, she knew she should feign ignorance and let the accusation slide. After all, this woman here may just be testing her. She forced the smile back into the face even though it took her a lot of effort to do so.

"I definitely got the wrong house," Sakura said apologetically and made a move to the exit. "I'm sorry for disturbing you."

She turned and fled the house with haste, only to stop at the top of the steps to stare at the sleek car approaching the gates. The chauffer with a cap hurried out from the car to open the back passenger door and bowed respectfully at the figure. Sakura almost couldn't recognize him with his hair gelled up neatly like that of a high position business man.

"Please have a good day, sir!" the chauffer greeted enthusiastically, still bowed at the waist.

Syaoran glanced at him and sighed. "That's all for today. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

"Yes, sir!" He bowed even deeper, if possible, and drove the car off. Syaoran stood a moment longer at the gate, staring at the empty street before walking towards his house. His eyes widened when he spotted Sakura, and narrowed when the unknown woman skipped lightly to the steps just outside the door.

"You're back, _darling_!" Her voice was cheerful and sweet. Sakura's nails dug into her palms, hardly feeling the damage she was doing to herself. "You made me wait too long today!"

"I was caught up in a meeting," he replied and entered the house without even bothering to greet Sakura. This came as a shock to Sakura, who remained motionless outside.

"Aren't you going to greet you little friend here?"

Sakura waited for a response, hoping that Syaoran would just tell that woman to shut her mouth or to tell her who she was.

"I don't know her," his reply came instantly.

"Are you sure you don't know her?" The woman asked as she shut the door. She didn't even spare Sakura another glance.

Sakura was glad that her back for facing the door, so no one could see how her tears spilled onto her cheeks. She was even gladder that the door was closed, so no one could hear her sniffles as she cried. So that was it—the teacher-student relationship has officially ended. Syaoran would rather that she slept at the hotel than letting this woman find out about her.

The blow was too heavy for Sakura to handle. She has to get out of the place before she flooded the entire front yard. It was still a blur how she made it to her hotel room. Before she knew it, she was back on the streets with all her belongings in tow and with nowhere to go. She didn't want to stay in the hotel room anymore since Syaoran didn't want anything to do with her anymore. Rather than sticking to him like a leech, Sakura thought it would be better if she looked for some other places to stay.

Her cell phone vibrated in her uniform skirt again for the nth time. She just let it continue to vibrate because she knew who the caller was. Did he call to break up with her officially? If so, she didn't want to hear his voice at all. She didn't want to see him anymore. Forever.

With another sniffle, she dragged herself to the place she knew would accommodate her. The cosplay café was already closed for the night, but Sakura spied the kitchen lights from the front doors and she dragged her feet to the back door. Junko answered on the third knock on the door and wordlessly let the distraught Sakura into the café.

"You don't look good," Junko said after putting Sakura on a chair. "I'll make you some warm drink."

"No, thank you. I'm fine."

"You're not fine," Junko interrupted and looked pointedly at the bags beside Sakura. "I've got a spare room upstairs which nobody is using. If you need a place to stay, you can stay there."

Sakura was gaping at Junko. "Can I?"

Junko knelt in front of Sakura and patted her hands in assurance. "Yes you can. Everyone listens to what Junko says and I say you can stay here."

Sakura's lips trembled and she squeezed her eyes shut to keep her emotions under control. It all went berserk when Junko pulled Sakura into a comforting hug and Sakura cried for all it's really worth.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

New character in the chapter! Does anyone feel like bashing her up? ^^"


	21. Chapter 20

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 20**

* * *

The delicious smell of pancakes woke Sakura and she remained smiling on the bed for a few moments until she remembered where she was. A pang of sadness filled her as she blinked at the unfamiliar surroundings. The room Junko offered her was small but it was better than having no place to stay. She'd have to make do with that.

She quickly changed into her school uniform and headed down to the first floor, which was where the cosplay café operated. Sakura didn't know Junko stayed above the café until yesterday. Junko smiled at her when she came down from the stairs leading straight to the kitchen. It was still a wonder that Sakura didn't stop to think what the stairs was for when she worked here.

"Good morning!" Junko greeted cheerfully. "How are you today?"

Sakura nodded. "Better. Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Junko replied and flipped the pancake in the pan skillfully. Sakura watched as the pancake sizzled on the pan before Junko slid it onto the pile on a plate. "Help yourself to the breakfast. You need something in your stomach to last you throughout the lesson."

"Thank you," Sakura said. "Junko-san, I'm really grateful that you are allowing me to stay here."

"You are always welcome!" Junko placed the used pan in the kitchen sink and took out a pitcher of fresh milk from the refrigerator. "I'm indebted to Daidouji-san and it is my pleasure to be able to help any friends of hers."

"How long have you known Tomoyo-chan, if I may ask?"

Junko sat down by the table and passed an empty plate to Sakura for her pancakes. "You can say that I've known her since she was born. I was initially a servant at the Daidouji mansion but due to some unfortunate circumstances, I was told to leave a few years ago. Daidouji-san was close to almost everyone in the mansion because of her friendly and cheerful nature. When she heard about me, she offered to help immediately. This was how I manage to get this restaurant. She helped to pull some strings for me and for that, I'm ever grateful to her."

"That's great! I mean… you are very successful in managing this café and Tomoyo-chan is really happy for you!"

"I know," Junko replied. "Our young mistress really has a kind heart. You too."

"Me?"

Junko chuckled. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

Sakura was spared from answering when her cell phone vibrated in her pockets. She turned sullen when she saw the caller's name on the screen but made no move to answer her phone. She just put her cell phone back into her pocket and resumed her breakfast in silence. A few seconds later, her cell phone vibrated again and she stiffened in response. Feeling Junko's gaze on her, Sakura refused to check the caller's name again.

"Aren't you going to pick up that call?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Sakura pushed the small pieces of pancake around on her plate. Her appetite was apparently gone. "It's not important."

"You wouldn't be brooding this much if it isn't important," Junko said. "Just so that you know, once you missed something, it will be gone for good. I'm telling you this from my own experience."

"You don't understand…"

Junko sighed. "You're right—I don't understand. But you do!"

"I…"

"Just think about what I said," Junko said. She gasped in dismay at the time on the clock. "You better hurry! It's almost time for school!"

Sakura cleared the dishes and dumped the leftovers on her plate into the bin. Even though she rested enough, she still felt tired. "Thanks for the food," Sakura told Junko before she rushed to school.

xxx

She hardly paid any attention to the lesson throughout the day. She didn't even realize that it was lunch break until the period has ended. It didn't matter anyway because she didn't get any food. Besides, she wasn't even hungry.

The classroom door slid open with a loud bang and everyone jumped in their seats, including Sakura. Her wide eyes turned to the angry teacher standing by the door and groaned inwardly when she saw who it was. Why did it have to be English class? Why did he have to turn up for work today of all days. Didn't he have some important CEO related meetings to attend?

He stomped over to the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom. No one dared to utter even a single sound as Syaoran's loud footsteps echoed throughout the room. Sakura pulled a long face and stared out of the window, determined to ignore her homeroom teacher and English teacher combined.

"Kinomoto Sakura!" Syaoran roared from the front of the classroom and Sakura jerked her gaze back to him. "Would you care to explain why you didn't answer my calls?"

Did he just say what she thought he did? Was he insane? Her classmates turned to her in mild curiosity and were whispering among themselves.

"My battery went flat," she simply said.

"Bullshit," Syaoran spat and the whole class gasped in shock. This was the first time they ever see their teacher this angry. Even the male students' faces paled at their teacher's unusual outburst. "Hand over your phone right now."

"W-what?" Sakura exclaimed. "Why do you need my phone?"

"To check if you are _lying_."

Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did he just accuse her of not answering his calls _publicly_ in class, with all her classmates as witnesses? Did he want to get her expelled?

"You have no right!"

"I have absolute right as your homeroom teacher. Now give me your phone."

Sakura wondered why he was the one who's angry. Shouldn't she be the one feeling that way? After all, she did witness another woman together with him in the same house just a few days after he declared his intentions to her. Anger flared within her at that thought.

"I can't believe this," Sakura spat. She grabbed her belongings and without left the classroom without permission. She knew she was getting herself into deep trouble for open defiance but she had enough of all his pointless accusation.

He caught up to her at the locker area and attempted to drag her back to class. "Do you know how childish you are acting right now?" he asked, hauling her by her waist. Sakura pinched, smack and slapped his hands to get him to let go of her.

"Childish?" Sakura almost screamed at him. "Exactly who's the one acting childish right now, _Li-sensei_?"

"How about the one who didn't pick up my calls for the entire night yesterday and the whole of today?"

"I don't even understand why you tried to call me," Sakura retorted, struggling in Syaoran's arms. He stopped moving but pinned her against the lockers. "And you need to stop this madness, Li-sensei! After what you did in class, everyone will be wondering what is going on between us."

"I don't care!"

"Sure you don't." Sakura sucked in a breath and prayed for control over her emotions. She wouldn't want to cry in front of her homeroom teacher. "You are just toying with my feelings."

Syaoran jerked back in surprise. "What are you talking about?"

"Isn't that right? You suddenly wanted me to get out of the house to stay in the hotel while you bring another _woman_ to your house. Isn't that very obvious?"

"What?"

Sakura looked down, hoping her bangs would hide her eyes. "I know some things are just hard to say aloud so I can understand why you want to keep it away from me. You can just take it that everything is one-sided on my part while you continue your whatever with her. From today onwards, we have nothing to do with each other. You don't have to feel guilty because we all knew how this will end from the beginning."

"Muffin, you aren't making any sense!"

"I'm not making any sense?" She chuckled humourlessly. "Let me make this clearer to you—it's over between us. Nothing happened and nothing will _ever_ happen." She gathered enough strength to push away from Syaoran. That caught him by surprise but he recovered quickly, making a grab for her. She sidestepped him and dashed out of the school in record speed.

Her mind was empty as she ran across the street aimlessly. Her lungs burned for air as she pushed herself even harder to get far away from the source of her sadness. Her bag slid from her shoulder to the ground with a loud thump. She squatted down and pressed her face against her bent knees, choking on a sob. No one was at the park at this hour so there was no one there who would think that it was weird for a student to cry there.

It wasn't long till Sakura felt numbness in her leg. She winced at the unpleasant sensation and shifted to a sitting position on the floor. Her runny nose was starting to irritate her as well so she dug for tissues in her bag only to find that there wasn't any. She sniffed again and felt that her nose was all clogged up. She was sorely tempted to blow her nose on the sleeves on her uniform but the thought of a soggy uniform disgusted her.

A packet of tissue appeared in her line of vision, startling her—she didn't hear anyone approach. The slim silver haired man towered over her but had a kind smile on his face. He looked oddly familiar.

"Are you Kinomoto Sakura?"

Sakura blinked and gaped. How did he know her name? Psychic?

"You and your teacher really created an uproar in school," he continued when Sakura didn't reply. He shook his head and pressed the packet of tissue into Sakura's hands before sitting down on the ground in front of her. "The principal called Li-sensei for investigation earlier."

Sakura blew her nose—loud—into the tissue, grateful to relieve her blocked nose. "You looked really familiar… Are you a teacher from my school?"

The man lifted a brow. "You didn't hear about me? Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

He sighed deeply. "I'm the newly appointed school nurse reporting for duty today. Imagine my surprise to be called upon to hunt down truants, only to find that it's you. I guess you didn't pay much attention to whatever is going around in school, did you?"

Something was definitely different about this 'school nurse'. He was talking to her as if he knew her. "Who are you?"

"The school nurse?"

Sakura glared at him. "Name?"

"Oh my... How can you be so rude to your school nurse?" he asked, feigning shock. He chuckled at her pissed off expression, despite her red nose and puffy eyes. "I'm Tsukishiro Yukito. Does the name ring a bell?"

It definitely did. "Yukito-san?" Sakura exclaimed. She appraised the man in front of her, looking for similarities between him and the boy who always stayed over at their house. It has been years since she saw him. She remembered she was about ten years old when Yukito left Japan to pursue his studies overseas. It has been really long. "You looked very different!"

"More handsome, I hope."

"Hmm… Perhaps?" Sakura laughed at the offended looked Yukito was giving her. She reached over and gave him a quick hug to soothe his tender feelings.

"So… I have been trying to contact your family for quite a while now. I even went to your house but there's a new family there…"

Sakura stiffened immediately. How was she going to explain everything to him without breaking down? How was she going to tell him that she was all alone now without a place to stay after selling off their family's house to provide for herself? Yukito noticed the change in her demeanor immediately and knew something was wrong. She shook her head sadly. "They are all gone. Accident… A year ago…"

"G-gone?"

Sakura nodded through the onslaught of tears. "Car accident. I'm the only survivor…"

Yukito leaned forward and hauled Sakura into his arms, pressing her face against his chest. "Goodness… I can't even imagine what you've gone through!"

"Just… lots of jobs and lack of sleep."

He released her, setting her back on the ground. "You sold the house? Then where are you staying now?"

"Um… Above the cosplay café I'm working at?"

Yukito shook his head disapprovingly. "I can't have Touya's sister living like this and tiring herself out. No way! He'd have my hide if he knew about this. I've decided—you are going to stay with me."

Sakura's eyes turned as round as saucers at the declaration.

"But first, we have to settle the principal."

Oh great—now she had two new problems to handle.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

Finally got a break from work! This week is a 3-day weekend due to one public holiday. Been busy everyday with work and things will definitely be getting crazy next week! Thanks for all your lovely reviews! Love receiving them. Also, thanks for the favorites and follows! Really appreciate them. :) Then, I shall peel myself away from my seat and head off to bed... Looking forward to a good night's sleep. Till next week!


	22. Chapter 21

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 21**

* * *

The principal, Kaidou Takumi, was a short little man with gray hair and receding hairline. He seemed to be around late fifties from the fine wrinkles on his forehead and at the corner of his eyes. Sakura shrank further in her seat as his eyes narrowed on her, his lips pressed into a stern line.

Yukito was in the chair beside her, but he was staring ahead at the Kaidou with a serious face. Sakura gulped at the tenseness in the room. If she knew it would come down to this confrontation, she wouldn't have openly defied Syaoran in the classroom. She's doomed to be expelled from school.

"What's going on?" Kaidou asked, his voice booming in the quiet room.

Sakura fidgeted in her seat, not knowing how to answer his question. She looked to Yukito for help but didn't manage to catch his attention. "Kaidou-kouchou," Yukito said. "I believe you have gone through Kinomoto-san's files over the past years. You should be able to understand what she's currently going through."

Kaidou sighed and leaned back against his chair wearily. "It's not that I don't understand her plight, Tsukishiro-sensei. Our school places emphasis on our moral values and inculcate respect in each and every student here. Kinomoto-san clearly broke one of the unwritten rules today with her behavior in Li-sensei's class."

Yukito narrowed his eyes. "So you are basically saying that it was all her fault?"

"I already talked to Li-sensei earlier but I need to hear from both parties on what exactly happened that led to the ugly scene in class. Some parents have already been alerted about the incident and have been calling the school with questions on Li-sensei's qualifications."

"Kaidou-kouchou, it wasn't really Li-sensei's fault," Sakura said and regretted it immediately when both guys turned their attention to her. She squirmed under their intense gaze. "It's because… Li-sensei caught me working overtime and was really worried about my health and safety… And um… I didn't pick up his call when he checked up on me to make sure I'm back home safely."

Kaidou nodded his head absentmindedly while Yukito merely frowned. Cold sweat poured down her face. Did her lie work? Her heart jumped in her chest when Yukito suddenly folded his arms and stared at her. Sakura could only pray that they believed her because that was the only way out for her—and Syaoran.

"That's what Li-sensei said too," Kaidou said with another sigh. "Settling this issue is tricky when parents are involved."

Parents… Sakura had none and that thought alone was like being brutally splashed by cold water. "I'm really sorry this happened."

"Kaidou-kouchou, I understand that students are not permitted to work while being a student here," Yukito said. "But Kinomoto-san needs to work to be able to afford her rent and her meals."

"I understand that. That's why we didn't stop her from working."

Sakura blinked. The school _knew_?

"You don't think the school is oblivious to the ongoing activities of our students?" Kaidou asked with a wry smile. "We sent a team to investigate during the long period of your absence in school and found out everything about you."

"You sent a team of whatever to _spy_ on me?" Sakura asked, feeling more incredulous than angry at her invasion of privacy.

"Well, we only did it once to find out where you were," Kaidou replied. "When we found that you were still staying in your former house—though you are actually renting a room from the new residents—we stopped."

Sakura felt the weight lifted from her heavy shoulders. So they didn't find out that she was actually living with Syaoran after she was evicted from her rented room. Their secret was still safe.

"Why didn't the school intercept and make sure that Kinomoto-san was well taken of?" Yukito asked and there was a hint of anger in his voice. "Aren't the school supposed to protect the student? Offer help when in need? Even though I'm a school nurse, I do know some things the school can do to help a student!"

"Tsukishiro-sensei, you need to get a grip on yourself," Kaidou warned, seeing Yukito's agitation. "You can't be too personal when handling work."

Sakura watched the word-sparring between the two grown men with dread. Even though she was glad that Yukito was making the stand for her but it was bound to be disastrous when colliding head-on with the principal. "T-tsukishiro-sensei… It's okay—I don't need the school's help."

Kaidou didn't give Yukito a chance to reply her. "I understand your need to help your friend's sister," he interrupted. "But still, you need to view the situation professionally."

"If I can't even help her, how can I help other students?"

Kaidou sighed. "These are two different matters—helping your friend's sister and helping the student population in general."

Yukito shook his head. "I don't see the difference."

An awkward silence descended upon the room as each party was unable to outwit the other and wasn't about to give in. Then, Kaidou cleared his throat. "As I've said earlier, the parents are demanding to dismiss Li-sensei. However, he is a brilliant teacher and I'm not about to let him go. So, to appease these parents, I've put Li-sensei on a one week suspension for his inappropriate behavior in class."

Sakura gasped in dismay. "But it wasn't his fault!"

Kaidou held out a hand. "I know. I know. That was the best that I can do for now. However, since you are at fault too, you'll have to face some punishment as well."

"Kaidou-kouchou!" Yukito protested.

Sakura sighed. She knew this was inevitable. "So… I'm going to be expelled?"

Kaidou looked shocked for a moment at Sakura's question before chuckling. "Of course not! Why would you think that the school is going to expel you?"

"Um… because I broke school rules?"

"But that's because you have no choice. After all, survival comes first. Besides, you are maintaining good results so I don't the reason you shouldn't stop working and studying at the same time. However, I do hope that you will consider putting aside your job and to concentrate on studying first, if your finances allow you to do so."

"That may be a problem…" Sakura trailed off, doing some quick mental calculations. "The rental alone kills. I've spent an extremely big portion of the money I received from selling the house on rental alone… and it wasn't enough."

"Will we be breaking any school rules if she were to stay with me?" Yukito asked, surprising the other occupants in the room. Sakura was gaping openly at him as if she couldn't believe he actually had the courage to ask the principal.

Kaidou scratched the back of his head as he considered Yukito's question. "It's going to be complicated—the parents will definitely disapprove of this. However, given your situation and your relationship with Kinomoto-san's brother, I don't think there will be too much of a problem. I do have one condition though."

"What is it, then?"

"You must always remember your position in this school," Kaidou said. "And there must not be any scandal arising from this arrangement. I wouldn't want the PTA to come after me and demand me to do something about the two of you."

To stay with Yukito? That was something Sakura hasn't considered.

"You don't have to worry anymore!" Yukito exclaimed and smiled warmly at Sakura.

"I think we were sidetracked a little on our discussion," Kaidou said, turning their attention back to him. "We were talking about Kinomoto-san's punishment earlier. Since Li-sensei was on a week's suspension, I propose that Kinomoto-san undergo similar punishment as well since she was also at fault."

"I can accept that," Sakura replied. Suspension was always better then expulsion. "Thank you so much for your leniency, Kaidou-kouchou."

"I'll see you when you return from your suspension then, Kinomoto-san," Kaidou replied with a smile. "Be good and listen to what Tsukishiro-sensei says, okay?"

Sakura rolled her eyes and chuckled. "I'm not some five year old kid!"

Kaidou shrugged. "Well, you know what I'm talking about."

Knowing that their meeting has come to a fruitful end, both Sakura and Yukito stood up to leave. Sakura bowed respectfully to Kaidou before exiting the office. "So… shall we go to your place to pack up now?"

"I'm not sure if I want to quit my job…" Sakura trailed off, taking a peek at Yukito and found him frowning at her. "Okay! Fine! I'll take Kaidou-kouchou's advice to listen to what you said."

Yukito laughed and ruffled the top of her head. She squealed at the mess he created and attempted to restore her hair.

"_Muffin._"

Sakura froze at the voice, recognizing it immediately before even seeing who it was. She didn't want to turn around and take a look at him, because if she did so, she'd remember what happened at his house yesterday. That was something she wanted to put out of her mind forever.

"It's _you_!" Yukito exclaimed, catching her by surprise.

"Fancy seeing you here after all these years," Syaoran replied casually.

"You are the Li-sensei that Kaidou-kouchou is talking about?" Yukito asked, his eyes widening. He cursed then and Sakura winced upon hearing it from his lips.

"No swearing in school," Sakura reminded quietly. Her gaze was swinging back and forth between Syaoran and Yukito, trying to guess their relationship. Classmates? Friends? Close friends? She couldn't decide on one answer.

"What are you doing here?" Yukito's voice turned cold. So they weren't friends then.

"I don't have to report my actions to you," Syaoran replied. "I'm just here to fetch her."

"Fetch _Sakura_? Whatever for? She isn't even related to you."

"Neither are you."

"I'm taking over Touya's duty," Yukito replied, pulling Sakura behind him and away from Syaoran. "Don't you dare try to touch her."

Syaoran snorted. "Can you be even cruder than that?"

"Yukito-san, you know each other?" Sakura asked softly behind him.

"What do you want with her?" Yukito asked, ignoring Sakura's question. "Don't tell me the two of you are an item… and that's the reason for the crazy outburst in class." The silence that greeted him was his answer. "I really can't believe this." He was shaking his head.

"Come, muffin, let's go somewhere we can talk in private."

Sakura shook her head. There was no way that she was going anywhere with him, not after what happened yesterday. "No, thanks. I'm good."

"We need to talk," Syaoran said. "We really need to talk."

"There's nothing left for us to talk, _Li-sensei_," Sakura replied. "I shouldn't even be talking to you right now. Who knows what other people may overhear."

"That's why I said we have to go somewhere _private_ to talk."

Sakura glared at him, refusing to give in to his demands. Yukito moved in front of her again to block her view of Syaoran. "Sorry, this has to end," Yukito said. "Touya wouldn't approve of this."

"I don't care if he approves or not," Syaoran said angrily. "He isn't around anymore."

Sakura's gasp told him that he had said the wrong thing and he cursed himself for his stupidity. Why did he have to remind her about _that_?

"You're incorrigible, as always," Yukito said, turning his back to Syaoran and guiding Sakura out of the school building. "You aren't fit to even talk to her."

Syaoran stared dejectedly as Sakura left with Yukito without even sparing him a look. He screwed things up…

And he was totally screwed.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

Oh dear! I just realized I've actually uploaded 21 chapters! And which chapter am I writing now? Well, I finally finished Chapter 24. Took me a long time due to writer's block and my busy work schedule. Trying to squeeze in time to work, study, read and write at the same time. That busy schedule finally took a toll on my health last week! (Spent 2 days away from work with medical leave Acks...)

Anyway, just giving you advance notice that Sensei, I Love You may be going on a 2-week hiatus in May for me to catch up in writing. I'm estimating that the story will end at around 30 chapters, with at least 2k words per chapter. I know it's short but that'll give me something to work on for my second draft! :)


	23. Chapter 22

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 22**

* * *

Sakura lost count of the number of times she packed her belongings to shift to a new place. She was just too glad that she didn't have too much things with her so it only took her a while to settle down in the empty guestroom in Yukito's small apartment.

She slumped on the sofa in the living room with a sigh. "What am I going to do for my one week suspension?"

"You're supposed to be good, remember?" Yukito asked back. "But I still have to go to school, considering that I just started my employment and can't apply for leave for the first few months."

"It's going to be really boring being alone at home." Sakura pouted.

Yukito remained silent as he cleared up the soapy mess she created in his kitchen sink. It was a few minutes later when he spoke. "So, what's going on in school?"

"Why are you asking me that?" Sakura asked warily, thinking that it was some kind of trap question that he was putting her through. She couldn't be too careless.

"I want to know why Li Syaoran is hovering all over you," he replied. "I don't believe a single thing that you told Kaidou-kouchou. I've been with you for a few years when you were young. Don't think I don't know what's going on in your mind. Come on, confess."

"There isn't really much to tell," Sakura protested. "Li-sensei is only worried about me."

Yukito rolled his eyes. "Don't think I didn't hear him call you _muffin_. I doubt a teacher will give their students endearments, Sakura."

"Well, aren't you calling me by my first name as well?"

"That's totally different!" Yukito exclaimed. "I _know_ your family. I know _you._ That makes a big difference."

"There's nothing going on between me and Li-sensei," Sakura said, gritting her teeth in irritation. Why couldn't Yukito just take her words for it? "He's just a concerned homeroom teacher who has a kind heart."

"I sense that there are still some things that you are not telling me."

"How can it be?" Sakura asked, feigning innocence. She wasn't about to blurt out the things that she and Syaoran did when they were living _together_ in his house—certainly not the part where they were kissing and certainly not the part where he kicked her out so that he could bring home some pretty woman.

Yukito sighed and gave up his interrogation. Sakura won't be divulging her secrets anytime soon. "I will get to the bottom of this sooner or later."

Sakura grinned, relieved and happy that she won't be forced to tell her secrets. "I wish you good luck then."

"Today is one crazy day," Yukito remarked off-handedly. "First, there's the crazy wild chase for a misbehaved student, then I found out that I finally found you and to know what happened to you. It's too much of a shock for me."

Sakura turned solemn at the change of subject. She leaned forward on the sofa and clasped her hands on the tops of her knees. The thought of her family often upset her. She should have gone with them, not live on without them. She blinked in surprise when Yukito suddenly knelt in front of her and took her hands in his bigger ones and gave them a reassuring squeeze.

"Yukito-san…"

"You still have one big brother who will dote on you," he said gently. "I'll continue Touya's job in protecting his baby sister."

Sakura chuckled through her tears. "I'm not a baby anymore, Yukito-san."

He grinned. "You are—to me. " Sakura sniffed, willing her tears to stop. He pulled some tissues from his coffee table and used it to pat her tears. "You made me want to cry too."

Sakura smiled, despite all the unhappy things that happened to her in her seventeen years of life.

xxx

On the first day of her suspension, she contented herself with watching television programmes and fell asleep in the middle of watching it. Deducing that she wasn't a TV girl, she switched to reading the numerous magazines that Yukito had, only to find that most of them were related to medical—she's not interested in those—and ended up falling asleep in the middle of reading. Well, at least she tried. On the fourth day, she decided that she had enough of staying at home and be and obedient little kid. She dropped by the cosplay café she used to work in.

Junko was thrilled to see her and personally attended to her. "It's so nice of you to drop by to see us," Junko said, returning from the counter after depositing her order chit. "Your brother's friend did a really good job in keeping you out of trouble."

Sakura made a face. "When was I ever a trouble, Junko-san?"

"Well, it pains me to see a cute young lady working so hard. And working part-time is going to get you serious trouble with your school. Speaking of which… why aren't you in school now?" Junko checked the time again—it was just slightly after noon and school was definitely going on at the moment. "What happened?"

"Um… got into some trouble?"

Junko clucked her tongue noisily. "And you said you aren't a trouble."

Rika brought them two steamy mugs of fragrant beverage. "Honey milk tea!" Sakura exclaimed in delight. "I haven't had this in ages!"

"It's on the house," Rika told her with a grin. "We caught you making this secretly the other time."

"Opps!" Sakura giggled. "This is something my brother made when I'm feeling down. It's sort of a cheer-up drink for me."

"Then I'm glad I made these," Rika said. "Well, it's really good to see you again, Sakura-chan. Ah! There's a customer! Enjoy yourself, Sakura-chan. I'll talk to you later!"

"The café is still busy as always," Sakura observed.

Junko nodded, looking around the café with a satisfied smile. "It is."

"Have you found a replacement for me yet?" Sakura asked, suddenly turning serious. "If not, I can work for these two days. I'm um… suspended from school for the time being."

Junko gasped. "Suspended for school?"

Another gasp sounded behind her. Sakura turned around to find Yui not three feet away from their table. "Suspended you say? How did that happen?"

Sakura felt uncomfortable out of a sudden. Being the center of attention was never a good thing for Sakura. "I was openly defiant in class."

"For?" Junko prompted. It warmed Sakura to see Junko this concerned about her and she suddenly had the urge to unload everything onto Junko. But it won't be fair to the owner of the café.

"My homeroom teacher got on my nerves and I just… snapped…"

"Oh you naughty student!" Yui exclaimed loudly, garnering more attention than before. Sakura slid lower onto her chair, hoping to avoid the weird stares that some customers were giving them.

"I'm repenting!" Sakura protested. "But one week is so long and I'm a little bored being alone at home."

"I can't have you work here again," Junko said apologetically. "I promised Tsukishiro-sensei to keep you out of job."

"Everyone is ganging up on me," Sakura muttered, taking another sip of her sweet drink.

Yui patted Sakura's back. "Everyone here is concerned about you, Sakura-chan. You can work all you want _after_ you graduate. Right now, study is your main priority."

"I know that… but…"

"All right! Discussion's over!" Junko announced and got up from the chair. "Time to get back to work everyone!"

A chorus of 'Yes' was heard and everyone scurried away, leaving Sakura with her half cup of honey milk tea. "And they never listen to me…" Sakura muttered miserably as she downed the rest of her drink. She stared out of the window and observed the people walking down the streets. She envied all of them just because they had something to do.

"Sakura-chan, a cake for you," Yui said, placing a slice of chocolate cake in front of her. "This is on the house as well. I'm just relaying the message." She winked and disappeared back into the kitchen, not giving a chance for Sakura to argue.

The cake was delicious and Sakura had to suppress a moan of delight when the sweet flavor burst within her mouth. She took her time to devour the cake because she wanted to savour the piece of goodness. The bells at the door jingled as it open and Sakura almost choked mid bite—Syaoran just entered the café, smiling at her as if there wasn't anything wrong.

"I figured you'd be here," he said after sitting down on the chair across Sakura. "I've been coming in for a few days to see if you'd be here."

Sakura took a sip of her drink and cringed when it tasted bland to her. Too much sugary stuff wreaked havoc on her taste buds. "We don't have anything to say to each other, _Li-sensei_."

"I wish you'd stop calling me that," Syaoran said, the corners of his lips dipping down. Wait… was he pouting?

"That's what you are—my homeroom teacher. What else could I call you then?"

"You can call me by my name." Syaoran perked up a little at his suggestion and waited eagerly for Sakura to do just that.

"That won't do," she told him flatly. "I'm still a student and you're still a teacher."

Syaoran sighed. "Is that the only reason that you are being so cold to me? Because I'm a teacher?"

Sakura took another sip of her drink just to keep her hands occupied. "You can say so."

"What if I stop being a teacher?"

"You can't do that," Sakura admonished. "That won't be fair to other students who idolize you."

"Idolize me?" Syaoran asked, looking hopeful. "Are you one of them?"

"Can you just leave me alone and let me enjoy my suspension in peace?"

He leaned back against the back of the chair and crossed his arms. "I'm bored."

"That makes the two of us then."

"Why are you being so cold to me?" Syaoran asked. Sakura raised a brow in response. "I only wanted to explain to you what's going on."

Sakura pushed the last bite of chocolate cake into a mouth and used the serviette provided to wipe her mouth. She left the table wordlessly and went to search for Junko to say her goodbye before moving towards the exit. Syaoran caught her wrist, stalling her.

"Let go," Sakura warned, not even bothering to look at him.

"At least let me have a chance to explain."

The blaze in her eyes startled Syaoran for he was clearly not expecting this. "What is there to explain? I'm a student. You're my teacher. I stayed with you and you act so sweet to me but you kicked me out so that another woman can come over. Isn't everything very clear?"

"You misunderstood!"

Sakura scoffed. "There's no way anyone could have misunderstood the situation."

"Muffin…"

"Stop calling me that!" Sakura wrenched free from his grasp. "I don't want to hear from you anymore, ever!"

With that, she stomped out of the café, not caring that everyone in the café was watching the scene and definitely not caring about the dejected look on Syaoran's face.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

*Dodge throwing knives*

Please don't hate me! I'll update the next chapter in 12 hours! It's almost 2am over here right now. I've been wanting to upload the chapter yesterday but I didn't have a chance to use the PC at home. Will be updating another 2 chapters over the weekend! But that'll leave me with probably nothing to update next week. I'm still 1/4 into chapter 25 now. We'll see how it goes!


	24. Chapter 23

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

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**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 23**

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"_You misunderstood!_"

Syaoran's words kept replaying within her mind, giving her an annoying headache throughout the sleepless night. She didn't know what to believe anymore. The more she thought about it, the more confused she was and the more painful her headache became.

She finally got up from her bed when she heard Yukito's alarm to join him for breakfast before he set off for school. She knew she looked like a mess from the lack of sleep and knew that Yukito knew too from the worried look on his face.

"Didn't sleep well?"

Sakura nodded her head and attempted a smile but failed miserably. "I'll be all right. Don't worry about me."

"How can I not worry about you? You'll be alone when I go for work later. What if something happens to you and nobody knows?"

"I'll keep my cell phone with me at all times in case there is an emergency and I can contact you immediately," Sakura said, pouring a cup of coffee from the pot into Yukito's cup. "I'll be fine on my own, Yukito-san. You don't have to worry too much."

Yukito looked very hesitant about going to work despite Sakura's assurances. In the end, she had to threaten him that she would sneak out of the house and never come back if he didn't go to work just so that he could stay with her. He fled immediately.

The house was quiet after Yukito left. Having nothing on her agenda, she laid on the sofa for a quick nap, hoping to catch up on her sleep. She groaned in frustration when the doorbell rang a few minutes later, the loud buzz creating a new onslaught of headache. She trudged to the door, ready to snap at whoever who was ringing her doorbell at such an ungodly hour.

"Oh there she is!" A familiar voice sounded. "And she sure is looking good and cheerful."

Sakura frowned at a not-so-happy Hiiragizawa Eriol clad in black business suit. Great, another man she didn't want to see. "What can I do for you today, Hiiragizawa-san? Don't you have important meetings to attend?"

Eriol checked the time on his watch before he grinned at her. "Nope—it's too early to schedule any meetings."

"But not too early to disturb young girls, I see…"

He frowned and crossed his arms defensively. "I didn't come here to play around with you. I have an emergency on my hand and only you can help me with it."

"I doubt I can help any CEO given my education background," she replied, ready to close her door on him. He managed to grab hold of the door before it slammed shut.

"I'm not the CEO."

"Okay… _acting _CEO then," Sakura said, recalling his introduction when she first met him. "Seriously, I wonder how I can help you. You seem pretty good at handling things yourself."

"As I've said—emergency." Sakura raised her brow expectantly, waiting for him to continue. "It's about Syaoran."

Sakura blinked—she was not expecting this. She felt a surge of panic rise within her. "What about him?"

"You'll have to come with me to find out."

"Is this some kind of sick joke to get me out to talk to him, hear him out or whatever crap? If so, then I'm definitely not going."

"He didn't put me up to this if that is what you are asking me," Eriol explained. He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "I wouldn't come to you on my own accord if this isn't serious. Something weird is going on with him and I'm really concerned that he may do something _unexpected_."

"He was fine when I saw him yesterday," Sakura pointed out. "And he's acting like usual."

"Was he?"

Sakura gulped at his question, casting doubts within her mind. _Was he? _"I… I don't know… He seemed okay…"

"He's not himself when he came back to the office," Eriol said, shooting her an accusatory glance. "Something you said must have really got him bad."

It was Sakura's turn to cross her arms. "It's not my problem anymore. We are not… together." Eriol snorted loudly, earning himself a glare from Sakura. "Well, I'm telling you the truth. If Li-sensei has any problems that you cannot handle, you should stop by his house to grab the lady there. Perhaps she can solve his problem."

"The lady in his house?" Eriol repeated, looking surprised. "Meiling?"

Sakura waved a hand nonchalantly in the air. "I don't know what her name is. She definitely seems close to him. I think she can solve his problem—and yours too."

"Are you talking about this tall lady with dark hair and sharp ruby eyes?" He asked, pressing his fingers to the corners of his eyes.

"Yeah, that's her."

Eriol guffawed, stunning Sakura and making her take a step back as a precautionary measure. "I don't see anything funny here, Hiiragizawa-san. Perhaps you should make a trip to the doctor."

"Oh! This is _golden_! Syaoran would be over the moon if he hears of this!"

"What?" Irritated by his continuous laughter, she began to feel annoyed. "If there is nothing else, I'd like to go back to my sleep."

"You're jealous," Eriol stated, trying to hold back his laughter so that he could speak normally. "I can feel it."

Sakura rolled her eyes and tried not to blush. "I'm not _jealous_. I don't have a reason to be jealous."

"I don't care if you are jealous or not. You have to make this trip with me."

"Why do I have to go with you?" Sakura asked.

"All your questions will be answered if you come with me," Eriol promised. "I assure you again that I'm not here on Syaoran's request. It's sort of a selfish request on my part because it will make my life a lot better and easier if he is back to his usual self. So, please, just take it that you are helping _me_ instead."

Sakura gave him a dubious look and he returned it with a puppy-eyed look. There was no other choice left for her—it's either she went with him or endure his continuous pleading and then go with him. "Give me a few minutes to change."

"Wonderful!" Eriol exclaimed. "I'll make it worth it for you to help me."

She hoped so, or she would have to come up with some ways to make his life miserable for wasting her time—and she won't care if he was an acting CEO or not.

xxx

"Can you please tell me again why we are camping out in your office's security room?" Sakura asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice as she glared at Eriol.

He shrugged and pointed at the numerous screens displayed in front of them. "Concentrate on the screen!"

"What exactly am I supposed to keep a look out for?"

"Someone tall, dangerous and handsome."

She made a face in response. "Who again?"

Eriol slid his gaze over to her briefly before returning to the screens. "Well, since I'm here then it's definitely not me."

"This is a waste of time!" Sakura muttered under her breath and leaned back against the swivel chair provided by the kind security guards on duty. "Aren't we disrupting their work?"

"There's nothing much going on at this time."

"So you do know that it's very early." She stifled a yawn and then suppressed a gasp when Eriol suddenly pulled her forward and pointed excitedly at a screen.

"There's your target!"

Sakura squinted at a few screens, unsure which was the one that Eriol was referring too, until she saw a familiar figure in one of the small screen. "Um… Is that… Li-sensei?"

"Of course!"

"And why are we spying on Li-sensei?"

"Just giving you a heads up before I put you in there."

Sakura's eyes widened. "And you said you're not doing it for him?"

"It's not for him," Eriol insisted. "Things are going to get interesting in a few moments. Look at this screen—we've got a surprise guest!"

Out of pure curiosity, Sakura peered at the screen Eriol was pointing at to see who it was. She wasn't surprised to see that it was the lady at Syaoran's house. "So, she comes here as well to visit him? Didn't she see him at home earlier?"

"Apparently not," Eriol replied and stood up. "Come on, we've got a show to watch."

"Where are we going? I thought you brought me here to spy on him?"

"We can't hear anything from here," Eriol explained. "Shall we camp outside his office?"

"If we get caught, I'm going to blame it on you."

"We won't."

There was a shouting match going on within the closed door of the CEO's office and every word could be heard clearly from where Eriol and Sakura were hiding just outside the door. There wasn't any need for a secretary since Syaoran was always away so they didn't have to worry about getting caught by anyone else.

"You can't possibly like someone like her!" The woman—Meiling—shouted, her high pitch voice piercing through her ears and causing Sakura to wince in discomfort. "She's not even in your league!"

"Pray, tell me—what exactly is in my league then? You?"

"Don't be disgusting, Syaoran. I'm hardly a candidate for that!"

Sakura gasped in surprise at her words. She looked wide-eyed at Eriol for his confirmation but he just shrugged and signaled her to be quiet and listen.

"So why did you lead her to believe that you are my…"

"Well, I have to protect my cousin from fortune hunters. Plus, I can't help but feel disappointed at you being reduced to a normal teacher. You are made for greater things, Syaoran. Aunt Yelan is depending on you to bring the company to greater heights. You do know that and yet you threw away your company just to be with her?"

"I'm just helping her," Syaoran replied coolly. "Can't I help my friend's sister?"

"That Kinomoto Touya is hardly your friend and we all know that."

"He knows onii-chan?" Sakura whispered to Eriol and was shushed by him in return. She sighed and continued to eavesdrop.

"You don't understand."

"You're right—I don't!" she screamed at him angrily. "I won't let her ruin you or the company."

"I don't wish to argue with you anymore. Please leave before I get really angry."

"Don't think that this is the last time we are talking about this," Meiling spat.

Sensing that she was about to exit the office, Eriol hurriedly dragged Sakura away from the door and pushed her under the secretary's table, which was just five feet away. Once done, he stood in front of the table and leaned against it casually.

"You!" Meiling sneered when she saw Eriol. "You have the audacity to be here after allowing Syaoran to fool around outside."

"He was doing some serious work," Eriol stated. "And it is important to him so I didn't want to stop him."

"Teaching some young kids is hardly any important work for the CEO of the company and you know that. Unless… you want to take over the company…"

"My loyalty lies with the Li," Eriol said seriously. "As always."

"Then that's one good news for today," she replied. "Make sure you keep a proper eye on him from now onwards. Don't let him go back to teaching anymore; it's a waste of his talents."

"It's his life. Let him decide what he wants to do."

"You are always going against me!" Meiling stomped her feet, the sound softened by the carpeted floor. "I can't be bothered with you."

Sakura waited for a few seconds before popping her head out from under the table cautiously. "Is she gone?" she whispered, feeling a little anxious.

"Sorry about this." Eriol helped her to her feet and brushed the dirt off from the knees of her jeans.

She intercepted him immediately, blushing furiously and was suddenly thankful that she opted for jeans and not skirt. "I can do this myself."

"Sure," he replied off-handedly, not affected by their contact. "Let's go greet the big boss."

"I'm not sure I should be in there right now."

"You're stalling the inevitable," Eriol reminded. When she didn't move, he grabbed her wrist and dragged her with him, ignoring her protests until they reached the closed door. He signaled her to be quiet and she obeyed immediately. He grinned at her before opening the door without bothering to knock.

"You're rude as always, Eriol," Syaoran remarked wryly the moment they entered. He was in his chair but since he was facing the window behind the desk, he didn't see that Sakura was there with Eriol as well. "I take it you heard our big exchange."

Eriol chuckled. "As expected whenever Meiling is around."

"I screwed up big time, didn't I?"

"With?"

"With Sakura," he replied after a pause and then sighed again. "She won't even let me explain to her why I acted that way at the house and she won't even pick up my calls until now."

"You didn't try again?"

Sakura could see that he was rubbing his temples as if he had a pounding headache like she had earlier. "It's no use. She won't pick up." To prove his point, he dug out his phone and punched in some numbers then swirled around to face them, still focusing on the display of his phone as he dialed her numbers.

Sakura did a double take at Syaoran's appearance. Dark circles were under his eye and his unkempt looks told her that he didn't have a good rest as well. He looked somewhat different from his usual style in school. She jumped when her phone rang loudly and cursed inwardly when she remembered she didn't switch her phone to silent. It was pure luck that her phone didn't go off while they hid outside the office.

Syaoran's head snapped up when he heard the melodic ringtone and his eyes widened at the sight before him. Eriol merely grunted and walked out of the door, leaving the two of them alone.

Sakura was suddenly unsure of how to proceed from here onwards.

Before she could decide on what she wanted to tell him, he was off his chair and pulling her into his embrace.

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**To be continued**

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****One more chapter to update! I'll see if I have time to do the editing today. Was the mystery around Meiling answered? :D


	25. Chapter 24

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me. (And how I wish...)

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**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 24**

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Sakura's phone clattered onto the floor and lay forgotten as Syaoran squeezed the life out of her. It was as if he was trying to ascertain that she was truly there, not some illusions that he had conjured in his mind.

"You're here," he murmured into her ears, pulling her even deeper into his embrace and nuzzled into the crook of her neck. "You're really here."

Sakura was lost in his embrace. It took her a few moments to collect herself and to remember where she was and why they weren't together anymore. She mustered up her strength to push him away and had to make herself look away from the pained look in his eyes when they parted.

"I shouldn't be here," Sakura said, looking at her shoes.

"Muffin…" Syaoran took a step towards her and she backed away immediately. He froze, eyes widening at her reaction. "_Sakura_…"

"You hurt me." Sakura whispered brokenly as she put more distance between them. She didn't dare to look up for fear of her reaction to him. "You pushed me away."

"I pushed you away?" Syaoran asked. His voice ended on a sharp note of disbelief. "I'm not the one who ran away!"

"Don't come any closer!" Sakura warned when Syaoran tried to go nearer to her, to hold her in his arms again. She couldn't have that. She'd break down and bawl like a little kid if he did that again. Once was enough. She still could manage it once but if she were to feel the comfort of being in his arms again, she'd lose it all. "Just stay where you are…"

"Why are you doing this?" Syaoran asked. He sighed and Sakura heard him ruffling his already messy brown hair. "Why are you doing this to me? To us?"

"There is no _us_!" Sakura screamed. "There can never be a _us_! Don't you get it? Kaidou-Kouchou won't permit it! Yukito-san won't permit it! Everyone is against us being together!"

Syaoran's jaw hardened at the mention of Yukito. Ignoring Sakura's warnings, he was in her personal space in the next instant and was gripping her arms, preventing her from making her escape. She gasped and looked up at him in surprise.

"I told you before that I don't care what other people think of us," Syaoran said, gritting his teeth in frustration. How could he phrase his words such that Sakura could believe in what he said? "I don't care what people may say about us, as long as we stay together. Forever."

Tears welled up in Sakura eyes and she tried to blink them away. She knew Syaoran saw them from the way his grip on her slackened and she was once again pressed against the front of his suit jacket. She made no effort to push him away this time round, not when this was what she wanted.

"What will happen to us?" Sakura's voice was so soft that Syaoran had to strain to hear what she was saying in between her sniffles.

"Everything will be all right," Syaoran said, rubbing soothing circles on Sakura's back. "I'll make it right. You'll see."

"Over-confident idiotic teacher." Sakura's comment had Syaoran cracking up.

"Does this means I'm forgiven?"

Sakura smacked him on his chest and he winced playfully in response. "Not that easy! You put me through lots of agony for the past two weeks!"

Syaoran's expression turned solemn at that. He tipped Sakura's face up with a finger and gently rubbed away the tear stains on her face with his thumb. "I'm really sorry about that. I panicked when I heard that Meiling was actually coming over for a short stay." He sighed and cupped Sakura's face. "You know it's never my intention to cause you any pain."

"You said you didn't know me."

"I know. I'm such an idiot, aren't I?"

"And Meiling is—"

"My cousin," Syaoran said, interrupting her sentence because he knew for sure what she was going to ask him. "She's stationed in our headquarters in Hong Kong but comes over from time to time. I didn't have the chance to warn you about her. She's was already in our house by the time your classes ended that day."

"So you threw me to Hiiragizawa-san…" Sakura frowned, thinking about Eriol and his barbed words. "He's really your friend?"

"And cousin and colleague."

Sakura's eyes grew as wide as saucer. She could guess that they were colleagues seeing that the both of them were in the same office building. Cousins? There's no obvious link between the two of them. "I'm… surprised."

Syaoran chuckled. "I can understand that. The two of us are totally different. You must have known by now that he likes to talk to himself? He grumbles a lot too. You should listen to him talk about why I shouldn't pass on the CEO responsibilities onto him."

"Why did you do it then?"

"Let's just say that it has got something to do with you," he said and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. She blushed instantly and looked away before Syaoran caught it. He leaned down and nuzzled her cheek. "I like the way your cheeks turn pink when you are embarrassed."

"Stop teasing me." Sakura shoved him away but he pulled her back, engulfing her in his embrace once more.

"But it's fun!" Syaoran mock whined, batting his eyelashes at her in a ridiculous fashion that had her laughing in seconds.

Sakura knew she should be feeling offended for being treated like some fun toys. "I can wait to have a go at this," Sakura said, rolling her eyes at his grinning face. "I'll make sure you have a taste of your own medicine."

"Ohhhh... I definitely look forward to that day." He just had to throw in a wink to complete his statement. There was a pause where he was just observing her. "So, are we okay now?"

"Okay as in?"

He rocked her gently on her feet and Sakura giggled at his childish antics.

"You, me, boyfriend and girlfriend?" He sounded uncertain on the last word. Sakura could feel how his arms tensed around her and knew how anxious he was for her answer.

"Boyfriend and girlfriend?" Sakura repeated, the corners of her mouth turning up at the thought of the two of them. Her mood dampened immediately when she thought of the secrets he was holding from her. "Can we be truthful to each other? No more secrets?"

Syaoran stiffened in her arms and she knew her question hit somewhere critical. She raised a brow at him in inquiry. He sighed and gave in, prepared to answer whatever question she might have.

"I'll try."

Sakura was satisfied with his answer. She gave him a quick squeeze around his waist and sent a brilliant smile up at him. She'd not press him for answers but at least he'll tell her on his own accord when the time comes.

"Please take good care of me, boyfriend," she said and stood on tip toes to press a kiss on his cheek, near to the corner of his mouth.

Syaoran grinned and his eyes lit up mischievously. "That's no way to kiss your boyfriend, muffin."

"Are we back to name calling again?"

Syaoran chuckled. "Probably."

Now that the big bulk of her concern was gone, so did her headache. What was left was just exhaustion. She yawned despite her efforts to suppress it and giggled a little at Syaoran's worried expression. "Sorry, I didn't sleep well."

"Let's get you home now," Syaoran said and stepped away from her to make a call using his desk phone. "Be ready in five," he barked the order.

Sakura stared at him, so unaccustomed to the serious CEO side of him and couldn't help but wonder why he secretly took up teaching. He said it has got something to do with her but she felt that he was leaving out some important point. Why would he be a teacher for her? Did he know her prior to joining her school? Her mind couldn't connect the dots together.

"Come," he said when he was at the door. Sakura was too busy with her internal monologue to notice his movement. He chuckled when Sakura gave him the clueless look. "Now I really knew how tired you are." He shook his head in wonder and came back to her to hold her hand in his. With a gentle tug, he pulled her with him and they make their way down.

"Where are we going?" Sakura asked, ignoring how wonder his hand felt.

"We're going home."

"Your house?" He gave her a deadpanned look and she had her answer. "But your cousin's there!"

Syaoran looked as if he forgot about it and looked at her apologetically. "Where are you staying right now?"

"Yukito-san's... But you can't go there! He's going to be really angry if he sees you.

"You're living with him?" Syaoran's voice had a hard edge.

"Well, Kaidou-kouchou approved it..." Sakura waited anxiously for the angry outburst that she knew would spill forth from Syaoran. She was thoroughly surprised when he merely sighed. "You aren't angry?"

Syaoran steered her into the elevator and pulled her into his arms again. "How can I not be angry that you're living with another guy? If I didn't know him so well, I'd have just marched to his place and plant my fist into his wretched face.

Sakura was appalled. She pulled back slightly so that she could see his face. "No violence!"

"Are you worried about him or me?"

His thumbs were tracing circles on her upper arms, distracting her from her train of thoughts. "W-what?"

"Are you worried about me?" He asked softly, leaning down and nuzzling her neck.

"Um... Sensei... We are in public..."

"Don't call me Sensei when we're out of school." Syaoran admonished gently, his breath fanning the side of her neck.

Sakura flushed hotly at their intimacy but she did not move away. "You're not afraid that your colleagues will see us together?"

Syaoran shurgged. "Well, I'm not officially working with the company now."

"Why are you here then?" She realized she wanted to-need to-know the answer to that, to solve the mystery of Li Syaoran.

"Well..." He looked uncomfortable with the topic and shuffled a little on his feet. "You know I become a teacher?"

Sakura rolled her eyes at him. "Of course I know that! Otherwise, I would have called the cops to report a suspicious figure in the school."

"I'm so glad that I'm an official staff there," he said with a teasing grin. "I wouldn't want you to be sad, seeing me with the cops."

"Why are you so sure I will be sad?" Sakura tried to sound nonchalant but her teasing grin gave it all away and Syaoran affected by her grin for he was smiling down at her.

"Because-" he leaned down slowly towards her. Sakura's lids fluttered shut and she fought the blush creeping up her face as he pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead. He seemed to love doing that. "-if our roles were reversed, I'd be much sadder and devastated if you were to be manhandled by the cops. And that's because I really love you."

Sakura inhaled sharply at his unexpected declaration. Syaoran gently tugged a loose strand of hair behind her ears and cupped her cheeks, tilting her face up slightly. Sakura suddenly felt that she had difficulty in breathing, totally absorbed in his gaze and touch.

"Sen-sensei..."

Syaoran chuckled and shook his head ruefully. "Not the name I want to hear from your lovely lips-lovely kissable lips." His thumb traced the outline of her lips and she opened her lips slightly, totally unaware that she was doing it.

Sakura's melting under the steady gaze of Syaoran. His thumb on her lips was driving her crazy. He was staring down at her-at her lips-and he made no move to kiss her there.

"Wanna try again?" He asked, his voice husky.

The pull was just too strong for her. She didn't even have time to even blink before her toes tipped on their own and she was closing the distance between them to press her lips to his. Her eyes widened when she realized what she'd done. Even Syaoran was stunned into speechlessness.

"I'm... uh... not going to apologize for that," Sakura said, looking at everywhere but him. She removed her hands from his shoulders, where she used to balance herself earlier.

A slow grin spread across Syaoran's face. He was about to tease Sakura even further when the doors opened and his eyes widened in surprise.

"What a pleasant surprise to see my son in the office building," the woman standing outside said. Her voice was laced with thinly veiled sarcasm. "Aren't you going to introduce the young girl in your arms to me?"

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

I'm feeling evil at the moment! But then again, 3 updates in 2 weeks! I'm left with nothing to update for a while because work kept me really busy and a little demoralized. Meanwhile, I'll squeeze in time to write whenever and wherever I can. Just to let you know that Chapter 24 is purely written on my phone via the app My Writing Spot. It's cool!


	26. Chapter 25

Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP, not me.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 25**

* * *

Syaoran guided Sakura out of the lift with a hand on her back. Sakura could feel the tenseness in his posture and immediately knew that the unexpected meeting with his mother was bad news. His intense frown confirmed her suspicions.

Sakura bowed respectfully to his mother and shivered slightly from the cold glare she received. Sakura gulped and shrank back to Syaoran, who curled his hand around her waist protectively, infusing strength into her.

"I see that our little girl here has more courtesy than the company's CEO," his mother said as she turned her sharp gaze to her son.

The hand on her waist squeezed tighter. It was as if he was the one that was drawing comfort from her nearness. "What brings you here, mother?"

His mother's gaze flickered between the both of them and to the warm large hand on her waist. "I've heard that my son has a sudden interest in another career. I had to see it for myself what is it that captured my son's attention to spur him to make the daring switch."

Cold sweat poured from Sakura's forehead. The accusation was obvious. "It has got nothing to do with her," Syaoran said. He tried to walk past his mother but she stepped towatds him, effectively blocking his path.

"I will find out why," she said. "I always get what I want."

"We'll see about that," Syaoran said and pushed past his mother, hauling Sakura protectively beside him.

Sakura spared one last glance at his mother and was surprised to catch the forlorn expression on her face. "You're on bad terms with your mother?" Sakura whispered her question, testing his reaction to it and was relieved that his temper didn't flare up.

"You could say that."

"I know it's not my place to say this but I think you should try to reconcile with your mother."

"What?" Syaoran exclaimed indignantly. "You want me to play nice with your mother? That woman is impossible!"

"But she's still your mother," Sakura said softly as she thought about her own mother and their happy time together. "Nothing is more important than your own family."

Her vision turned blurry out of a sudden and that was when she realized she was crying. Her grief poured out in a torrential of tears that she couldn't control. "Shit! I didn't mean to make you cry like this!" Syaoran panicked. He was thankful that there wasn't anyone around to witness them.

Sakura giggled despite her tears. "You didn't make me cry. I was just thinking about my family."

Syaoran nodded in understanding. "I don't think I've said this before... I'm sorry for your loss and you won't be alone from now on."

"Thank you." Sakura gave him a teary smile, touched by Syaoran's words. "I'm glad to have met you."

"Me too."

Syaoran pulled Sakura to the porch to wait for someone to drive his car over as he instructed earlier.

"Won't you be in trouble for skipping out on work? If so, I can go back on my own. It's not as if Yukito's house is very far away."

Syaoran clenched his teeth at the mention of Yukito's name. Clearly, this was a subject that he was sensitive about.

"I'm bringing you back to my house."

"Your house?" Sakura's eyes widened in shock. "You want to put your cousin and me under the same roof?"

Syaoran didn't reply until he his car arrived. He opened the passenger door for her and let her settle on the passenger seat. He then braced his forearm on the roof of his car and leaned down to speak to her. "I can handle her. How can I leave you with another guy?"

"But Yukito isn't another guy-he's practically my brother."

"No. Not by blood. I simply don't allow it."

Sakura didn't know if she should be feeling happy, amused or angry at his declaration. He made it sound as if she was his possession. On the other hand, it did look as if he was jealous. She giggled slightly as he walked around the hood of the car to get to the driver's seat.

"So... Am I some kind of possession to you?"

"Possession? Of course not! You're my girlfriend!" he exclaimed loudly.

The valet was watching them with amusement in his eyes. Sakura's cheeks burned as she tried to hush Syaoran with his eyes. She squeaked in surprise when Syaoran suddenly pressed his lips to her, urging her to open them so that he could bring their kiss to another level.

Sakura was frantic. She tried shaking her head and pushing him away but he didn't even bulge. He only clamped a hand behind her head and urged her even closer, slanting his mouth over hers.

"People are looking!" Sakura gasped the moment Syaoran leaned back.

Syaoran chuckled and pressed a soft kiss to her warm cheek. "Let them look. I couldn't care less. I need to make up for our one week apart."

"Be serious!"

Sakura dropped her face into her hands, wishing that the ground would just open up and swallow her whole. She heard the passenger door close and driver's door open a while later. She peeked just in time to see Syaoran slid into the driver's seat gracefully.

"You're staring too much." He tweaked her nose playfully.

"I'm not!" She pouted

She sucked in a breath when Syaoran leaned too close to her as he reached for her ears. He chuckled at her immediate reaction and with a slight shake of his head, he helped to put on her safety belt for her. "Are you expecting me to kiss you?"

Sakura sputtered. "No! No way! Not in public!"

"Then I shall do it when we're alone," he said with a wink before pulling his car away from the office building.

It didn't take them long to reach Syaoran's place. There was no sign of activity within the house, not that Sakura could see from their position in the garage. Dread filled her entire being at the thought of meeting Meiling again. Would she fling herself at her cousin again just to cause some jealously? Even though they were cousins, Meiling's actions seemed somewhat too intimate.

A tap on the side of her head shocked her into alertness. "Ow! What?"

Syaoran looked relaxed in his seat, with a hand thrown carelessly on the top of the steering wheel. He was laughing at her. "A penny for your thoughts? In case you haven't noticed, we have already reached home."

Home.

Well, it was the "we" in the front part of his sentence that caused a lump in her throat.

"Home..." Sakura repeated wistfully. It would be a long, long time before she would ever have a home to call her own.

Syaoran's teasing demeanor turned serious when he felt Sakura's internal struggles. "What's wrong?" He put a hand on the top of her thigh and the warmth burned through the layer of jeans and caused a tingling sensation.

"Nothing," she replied immediately, not wanting to worry Syaoran about silly little things. So what if she didn't have her own home? At least she had Syaoran by her side, nothing else was important. She squeezed his hands and gave him the best smile she could muster.

"You don't have to worry about dealing with Meiling. I'll speak to her later and move her to my mother's place."

"Your mother's place? Your mother has her own house?"

Syaoran cringed. "Um... Yeah... The Lis are... well... pretty rich."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Isn't it pretty obvious by now? I mean... Just look at your house! And your car! Goodness me."

"Right." He smiled sheepishly at her before killing the car engine and rushed out to help Sakura with the door.

Knowing Syaoran's intention to help her out of the car, Sakura watched patiently as he rounded the hood and to her side. "You don't have to do this," she told him as he pulled her out gently. "Opening the door isn't difficult at all."

"I know muffin is very capable of doing everything on her own." He paused to press a kiss on her knuckle and winked. "But sometimes I just want to spoil you rotten."

Sakura's blush was instantaneous. If he kept the teasing up, the dark stain on her cheeks would turn permanent. "Stop fooling around with me."

Syaoran put his free fist against his chest and grimaced dramatically. "You wound me with your words." He slumped against Sakura, catching her by surprise, and effectively pinned her against the side of the car.

"Sensei!"

Her protest was cut off when Syaoran swooped in for a lingering kiss. She only had a split second to gasp before he wrecked havoc with her system. By the time he was finished, her legs had turned into jelly and he had to support her.

"I'm not your sensei," he said, his amber eyes were serioucs. "I'm definitely not your sensei at home. Sensei don't kiss their students, right?"

Sakura's mind whirled, still floating around somewhere. "You... can't do that anymore."

Syaoran frowned. "Can't do what?"

She let her forehead dropped against his chest and was somewhat comforted by the wild thumping of his heart.

"Stop making my heart go crazy," Sakura mumbled against his shirt front, not caring if he couldn't hear her. In fact, it would be better if he didn't manage to catch what she said. "I'm not supposed to fall in love with my teacher."

Syaoran chuckled, making Sakura feel like throttling him. "I'm being serious here." Sakura glared up at him, aware that she was pouting and acting kind of cute.

"I'm not mocking you," Syaoran's arms closed around her, pulling her in and she realized that their bodies actually fit together nicely—her soft curves against his hard chest. It felt… nice.

"Like real."

Syaoran chuckled again at her response, riling her further. "You're cute when you're angry. I should probably make you angry more often. Oh, are you embarrassed now?"

"Stop messing with me." Sakura slapped his rock hard chest and winced at the resulting sting shooting from her hand. "Infuriating man."

"Aw... You know that I'm the most irresistible man on earth, right?"

"More like irritating..."

Syaoran pinched her cheeks lightly in retaliation. "Ow! That hurts!"

"That's for badmouthing me."

"Idiot."

"Don't force me to use underhanded methods! You just have to agree that I'm the most handsome guy! You have to!"

"Fine! You are the best good looking guy I've come across so far." Sakura said and rolled her eyes for effect.

"That's more like it. To reward you for your honesty, I shall whip up a mouthwatering lunch for you."

Her damned stomach just had to growl at the statement, much to Syaoran's delight. "Not another word from you," Sakura growled.

Syaoran just shook his head and tried to contain his mirth. "Let's just get you out of the garage and I'll go prepare lunch for muffin."

"I hate that name."

"You secretly love it," Syaoran said with glee.

"Never."

"You don't have to be shy about it." He laced their fingers together as he pulled her into the house and Sakura was relieved that there was no signs of Meiling. "She out there fuming somewhere. You don't have to meet her if you don't want to. I know how extreme she can get."

"Don't remind me." The thought of meeting Meiling again dampened her mood drastically. Her eyes widened when Syaoran ruffled the top of her head.

"Don't worry. I'm here for you." Then all her fear and unease were gone. That's right. Nothing will ever go wrong with Syaoran around. "Trust me."

Syaoran deposited her on the sofa and handed her the remote for the TV.

"I want to help out with lunch," Sakura said and put the remote aside. "I can't be a freeloader everytime."

Syaoran wagged a finger at her and pushed her back down again. "I'll have none of that! I'm rewarding you so you shouldn't have to do anything! Besides, your presence here is enough for me."

"I can't help out with the preparation at the very least?" Sakura tried again. "I'm confident that I can be of help to you. Afterall, I did help out at the cafe."

Syaoran shook his head and folded his arms, looking at her disapprovingly. "Which part of 'you shouldn't have to do anything' that you don't understand?"

Sakura bit her bottom lip. "I just feel bad..."

Syaoran sighed. "To tell you the truth... You'll just be my distraction if you come to the kitchen. So for yours and our stomachs' sake, watching some TV to entertain yourself. Lunch will be ready in a short while." He left her in the living room staring at him with a gaping mouth.

Distraction... Distraction?

Sakura suddenly had a crazy urge to start screaming. Syaoran just said that she was his distraction. Did he mean that she have some form of control over him. Goodness, her overloaded mind was doing something weird to her.

At least she wasn't the only one affected by their nearness. She wanted to see for herself how exactly she would be able to distract him from what he was doing. Oh, she didn't know she had such an evil side.

Abandoning the TV, Sakura padded softly across the living room to the edge of the kitchen. She peered in cautiously and her eyes widened at the delicious sight of Syaoran in a black apron. Her heart did a wild dance as she tried to control her breathing.

_Breathe in. _

_Out. _

_In. _

_Out._

_In. _

_In..._

Oh wait, he's rolling up his sleeves! His actions were so graceful that Sakura felt herself being drawn to him. It was a pity that he wasn't a model—he would definitely earn big bucks with that body.

Her eyes were glued to his back as he shuffled around the kitchen to cook her the promised lunch. Since he wasn't aware that she was peeping at him, Sakura felt that it was safe to just continue to ogle at him.

"You don't take people's instructions well, do you?" Syaoran asked with his back still facing her. Sakura let out a squeak of surprise as He let out a short laugh. Putting the pan on the stove to let the food sizzle for a while, he turned and beckoned Sakura over by crooking his finger.

"How did you know I was there?" Sakura asked as she obediently closed the distance between then, a faint blush tainted her cheeks at being caught red-handed. "I didn't even make a sound!"

She stopped just a foot before him and had to tilt her head slightly to mock glare at him. Not satisfied with their distance, he drew her closer to him with both his hands circling Sakura's waist.

"Where would the fun be if I just told you?" He asked. "You'll have to work to earn your answer."

"Earn?" Sakura asked, feeling a little confused. "How?"

Sakura felt her heart stop the moment Syaoran's lips touched the side of the neck. Her gasp of surprise escaped her lips before she could stop it.

"You can start by calling me by my name."

Sakura blushed. She clutched Syaoran's strong arms to balance herself as he kept pressing into her. "Why are we back to that again?"

"Because..."

"B-because what?"

He leaned back with a playful glint in his eyes. "I don't want my girlfriend to keep on calling me 'Sensei'. It makes me feel very... old."

"Well, you are old," Sakura stated plainly and received a light nip on her shoulder that had her yelping in surprise. "Sensei!" Another nip. "Ow!"

"You're so going to be covered with little bruises if you keep calling me that." He gave her another nip for demonstration. "So what would it be?"

Sakura crossed her arms in front of her and held onto her shoulders protectively. Her breath hitched when Syaoran leaned dangerously close. "Sen—n" Syaoran gave her a warning look and she gulped. "Sy-Syaoran... Sensei..." She added the last word hastily after a moment's hesitation. She was too used to calling him Sensei and it was difficult to change. Some habits are hard to kick.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

****It has been a week after my exams! Yay! But somehow I'm still tired. Guess what? I actually re-edit chapter 24 by mistake when I wanted to edit Chapter 25. *slaps head* Anyway, there isn't a fixed update schedule because I'm actually lagging behind and tied down by my work. Nowadays, I write when I commute to and from work and staring at the small words made my eyes go dotty. x.x Nevertheless, I'll still write, though it'll be at a slower pace. :) Be sure to stick around!


	27. Chapter 26

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the ever wonderful CLAMP. I have no claim on the title and its characters.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 26**

* * *

"You should just answer the phone," Sakura commented when Syaoran's phone rang again for the tenth time within half an hour.

Syaoran glanced at the caller display before silencing his phone and chucking it to the foot of the bed. "There's no way that I'm leaving my bed when you're in it."

"The movie can wait," Sakura said, rolling her eyes at him. However, she couldn't help but feel elated at his words.

Syaoran scooted nearer to her on the bed. If he was any closer, she would be literally sitting on his lap. The phone stopped vibrating and Syaoran used his toe to push the cursed thing farther away from him.

"I'd rather stay with you then listen to Eriol nag. That guy is just like any other old hag who wouldn't stop harping."

Sakura choked on a laugh. "That's a mean thing to say about your cousin!"

Syaoran shrugged as if he wouldn't care less. "I couldn't just let him boss me around you know?"

"Aren't you his boss?"

"Of course I am! But that doesn't mean that Eriol would just shut up and do his work quietly!"

"You should have just gone back to being a CEO," Sakura commented, passing him the bowl of popcorn in her lap. "That way, there's a higher chance that he'll stop pestering you."

"Well, he's the acting CEO now and has the same rights as me. Besides, I enjoy teaching more than anything in this world."

"You really do enjoy yourself," Sakura said, remembering all the weird and silly things Syaoran did in school. "There's no other teacher who's crazier than you."

"I hope not! I aim to be the one-of-a-kind teacher!"

"And get kicked out of the school for being so crazy."

Syaoran pouted. "That's mean."

"Aww... Sensei is sad..." Sakura cooed, patting his puffy cheeks.

He caught the hands on his cheeks and stared at her for a short while before removing the bowl from her lap and setting it on the small bedside table. Before she could realize what was happening, she was already pinned down on the bed, with Syaoran hovering over her.

"W-what?"

"You never learn, do you?"

"Learn?" She squeaked and tried to shrink into the bed when he leaned slightly forward.

"Must I kiss you to get you to remember?"

"No!" Since her hands were free, she tried to push Syaoran off her but he just won't budge. "I remember!" She cried out in desperation.

"And then?"

"I remember, S-Syaoran!" This time, she forced herself not to add the suffix to her boyfriend's name but her efforts caused her cheeks to turn red.

"Thats more like it," Syaoran complimented but leaned down for a quick peck anyway. He grinned at Sakura's surprised expression. "Oh! Look! Someone's turning red! How cute!"

"You are so mean!" Sakura exclaimed, thumping her fists onto Syaoran's chest in a fit of embarrassment. "I already called you by your name!"

"I don't care," he said. "I just feel like kissing you all the time." He leaned down again for a second kiss but his phone interrupted them, vibrating incessantly on the bed. He groaned in frustration and pulled away from Sakura to glare at the offending phone. "I swear I'll kill him!"

"No violence!" Sakura reminded.

"I'll get back to you in a while. Just let me murder this irritating guy over the phone."

Sakura scrambled to a sitting position the moment Syaoran made a grab for his phone. His frown was fierce as he read the number on the display. This guy sure had a hidden temper. His expression wiped clean when the number registered in his mind and he wasn't frowning anymore. Sakura wondered if it was Eriol who called.

"I'll... I'll be back in a while. J-just continue with your movie," he said and rushed out of his room, closing his door behind him and leaving a confused Sakura alone.

Syaoran didn't take long to finish the call. He was brooding when he strode into the room.

"What's wrong?"

His head snapped to her when she spoke. It was as if he had forgotten that she was in his room. "Something urgent came up and I need to make a trip to the office. Will you be all right on your own?"

"I'm sure I can manage it. I'll just hide in your room until you come home. Will your cousin just pop into your room without warning?"

"She wouldn't dare."

"Great! You better hurry," she said. "Whatever's worrying you seems pretty urgent."

"Yeah..." Syaoran scratched the back of his head and smiled at her apologetically. "I'll probably take an hour or two. You can use my laptop if you are bored. It's in the study."

Sakura nodded absently. It didn't come across her before that she didn't know where his study room was but he was pressed for time and she didn't want to detain him. "I'll keep myself entertained. Meanwhile, I'm quite content to surf through your TV channels."

"Okay. See you later."

Sakura thought he would try something funny like kissing her for no apparent reason but he just grabbed his stuff from the bedside table and went out without another word.

"That's weird..." Sakura mused. She shrugged off her questions and turned her attention to back to her show.

An hour later, she was totally bored with nothing much to do. The ongoing show did not capture her interest and she turned the TV off with a sigh.

She stumbled out of Syaoran's room in search of the study room with the promised laptop. She could use some time to do some research and read up. The house was quiet, which was fine to Sakura since she rather welcomed the silence than face Meiling's wrath. Her fists clenched in annoyance when she recalled the way the other lady behaved around Syaoran when they first met.

"Definitely a weird cousin." Sakura muttered. "It's as if she has a freaking crush on her own cousin."

She stood in the middle of the wide corridor, looking at the doors lining both sides of the wall. She'd have to comb the room one by one if she ever wanted to find the study. It was a good thing that there was only ten rooms in the house but that was enough to make her feel like she was invading Syaoran's privacy.

Deducing that the study room was actually Syaoran's home office, it shouldn't be far away from his room. Sakura tried the door directly opposite of Syaoran's room and jumped up with joy when she guessed correctly.

"I'd make a good sleuth," Sakura complimented herself as she strode into the room, slightly amazed by thr grand furnishings. "Wow..."

A big oak table sat in the middle of the room, though much closer to the wide expanse of the window at the back. Tall bookshelves lined all sides of the walls and no inch was uncovered. This made the inner portion of the room slightly darker where direct sunlight couldn't reach.

Sakura touched the books in the closest shelf fondly, suddenly remembering that her father loved books too and that he bought more books than he could ever read. When she was younger, she would pop into her father's mini library and pick up some books she didn't even know how to read but it felt good to just flip through the book and enjoy the musty smell. She remembered complaining to her father that she didn't have books that she could read in the library. The next day, there was a miniature shelf filled with fairytale books sitting in the library. Her father even made sure that he read her a story everyday despite how busy he was. The memory put a wistful smile on her face.

Sakura scanned through the books, curious about what kind of books Syaoran would read. Her brow crinkled when she saw that most were management books like "How to Lead", "Ways to Manage Your Staff" and "Strategic Thinking". How boring.

She was nearing the big bookshelves near the office table when something caught her attention-something familiar...

"Sleeping Beauty?" Sakura mused aloud and couldn't stop giggling. Syaoran read fairytales? This was totally unexpected!

It was the exact book that she used to have, until she had to sell of the house and the Tanaka gleefully threw all the books away. There wasn't anything that she could do about that since there wasn't any storage place in her miserable room. It still made her heart ache a little when she thought about her books.

Sakura fingered the book cover lovingly, enjoying the feel of the rough surface. She flipped to the first page of the book and froze, a look of disbelief crossed her face-right there in the middle of the page were her father's handwriting. It was a note written that he wrote when he bought the book for her.

_To my dearest daughter, Kinomoto Sakura, with love._

Sakura's hands trembled as she flipped to the last page. What were the chances that this book, which happened to be in Syaoran's library, actually belonged to her? For all she knew, it could be for another Kinomoto Sakura. The book almost dropped onto the carpeted floor of the library when she saw the childish scribbles throughout the pages-she recognized her own handwriting.

The door to the library burst open and the door bang onto the cupboards by the door with such a force that it was surprising it didn't splintered. Meiling was panting at the doorway with wide eyes. Sakura turned to Meiling, clutching the book tightly as if it was her only lifeline.

"Why?" Sakura uttered the only word that came to her mind.

"Why what?" Meiling approached her cautiously.

"Why is my book here?" Sakura asked as she stared at the book ans then at the shelf where there were more familiar titles. She removed another book and flipped through the pages. "Why?"

"You need to calm down."

"I am calm. I'm just... confused. Sensei is obviously keeping things from me even though we promised to be truthful. I guess those were just words. Empty promises..."

Meiling pried the books away from Sakura to put it back to the shelf. The latter cringed as though she was about to receive a tongue lashing from Meiling.

"Syaoran has his difficulties and I only realize some of them now even though we are close cousins. I guess this is part of the reason why he took up teaching."

Sakura let her hands fall to her sides. Her mind whirled and she was totally confused.

"I don't understand... And why are you being so nice to me out of a sudden?"

Meiling led Sakura out of the library with gentle hands. "It's because we owe it to you... and your family."

"But my family is dead..."

Meiling looked away, unable to bear Sakura's scrutiny. "That's why we owe it to the both of you."

Sakura's blood chilled instantly. "W-what's the meaning of this? Owe it to us? Owe what? What exactly happened?"

"I can't explain fully to you right now," Meiling said and continued to steer Sakura out of the house. "Syaoran is the best person to explain everything. In fact, he was the one who called me to bring you to the hospital."

"Do me a favor-don't ask anymore questions until we get there. There are some things which Syaoran can explain better than me."

Sakura nodded. "Is he hurt?"

Meiling sighed in exasperation. "No. That idiot is perfectly fine."

"Then why is he at the hospital? He rushed out of the house after picking up a call..."

Meiling shot her a pointed look. "No more questions. Remember?"

Knowing Meiling would not yield to her incessant questioning, Sakura willed herself to remain quiet throughout the car ride to the hospital where Syaoran currently was.

"I'll drop you off at the lobby before finding a parking place," Meiling announced as their car maneuvered into the hospital driveway. "You just head up to fifth floor and turn right. You should be able find Syaoran there."

"Okay," Sakura uttered while keeping her trained on the imposing white building looming ahead of them.

"Right... Here we are and off you go."

Sakura's movements were jerky as she tried to release her seatbelt. "Um... Li-san?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

Meiling choked back on a laugh. "Don't thank me yet. Just wait till you hear the truth-you won't even want to see our faces after that."

Sakura gave Meiling a wry smile. "Still, thank you for bringing me here. You don't have the obligation to do that."

"Considering what happened in the past, I'd still say that the Lis owe it to the Kinomotos." Meiling's eyes fluttered close and she let out a soft sigh. "If only we were told earlier about you... Perhaps things would be slightly different."

Not knowing how to respond to Meiling's statement, Sakura just bobbed her head before entering the hospital.

True to Meiling's words, Sakura spotted Syaoran immediately after she took a right turn at the fifth floor. He was leaning against the plain white walls with his hands folded on his chest and a slight frown on his face.

A doctor stood a feet or two away and was talking animatedly with his hands gestering wildly. She was still a distance to be able to hear them clearly. A nurse approached the doctor and he politely excused himself. Syaoran sighed before pushing away from the wall. He was about to open the door to the private room when he paused by the door as if to collect himself and prepare for whatever was inside.

"You!" A guy bellowed from within the room. Sakura jumped in surprise. "Let me out!"

Sakura couldn't hear Syaoran's reply above the ruckus but the man continued shouting. The voice seemed familiar to her and she couldn't identify it on the spot.

"Let me out! I need to find my sister! She must be in the hospital! She must be!"

It suddenly clicked. Sakura staggered towards the wall so that she could support herself. He was...

"I said let me out!"

The same doctor from earlier dashed into the room with his white coat fluttering behind him in his wake. The shouting continued in greater intensity and a few precious seconds later, everything was blissfully quiet.

Sakura managed to walk towards the room without falling flat on her face. She slid the door open to jerky hands and gasped in surprise at the scene before here and more importantly at the person lying on the bed.

"You're here," Syaoran spoke. He moved towards Sakura but the pained expression on her face stopped him mid-stride. "Sakura?"

"How could you?" Sakura hissed, tears welling in her eyes from his betrayal. "You promised to be truthful to me!"

"Sakura, please, let me explain."

"Sakura?" The guy on the bed murmured and tried to push himself up. "Sakura? My sister?"

The doctor forced the guy back onto the bed with a gentle but firm push on his shoulders. "You need to rest, Kinomoto-san. You just woke up from your coma."

"I want to see my sister. Let me see my sister."

With a final glare at Syaoran, Sakura flew to her brother's side and cradled his large hand in hers. "Touya-nii, I'm here. Sakura's here."

Touya blinked and appraised Sakura with narrowed eyes. "Sakura?"

Tears leaked from the corner of Sakura's eyes. "Touya-nii!" She pulled him into a tight hug, burrowing her face into the crook of his neck.

"You look... different... You no longer look small." He ruffled the top of her head and chuckled at her indignant gasp.

"I'm not even big now!" She smacked his shoulder in retaliation and brought forth another round of rusty chuckles from him.

"You're Sakura-my sister..." His hand on her head went slack and flopped onto the bed. Sakura lurched back in alarm.

"Um... Miss, don't worry. He was injected with sedatives as he was very agitated before you came in. The medication just set in and he was knocked out," the doctor explained with a gentle smile. "He should be feeling normal the next time he wakes up."

"T-thank you." Sakura sniffed loudly. She didn't know how she would react if anything were to happen to her last relative-probably a total breakdown would ensue. She pulled the covers up over Touya, making sure he was totally blanketed from neck down.

"Please be rest assured that Kinomoto-san will be well taken care of," the doctor said and bowed slightly. "I'll take my leave now. Good day."

Syaoran stepped beside her. "Sakura, we need to talk."

Sakura did not bother looking at him as she replied. "I'd like to be left alone for a while. My mind is all jumbled up."

Syaoran sighed, clearly not wanting to leave her alone but Sakura did not give him a choice. "All right... But please come back home tonight. I don't want you to loiter outside."

Sakura hesitated but nodded her head in the end. A sad smile touched Syaoran's lips as he kissed the top of Sakura's head. Then he left the hospital.

Sakura released the breath that she was holding when she heard the door slid shut. She needed to think clearly. Will she be able to forgive Syaoran no matter what reasons he would have for hiding Touya from her all these years?

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

Wow! It has been a month since I last update. Why do time passes so fast? I'm thinking that 24 hours a day is not enough for me to do sooooo many things! (Work, study, write, read, play, family, friends etc) Any of you feeling the same as me? I've been taking online writing classes but can't seem to complete the assignments on time. *laughs* I'm terrible... I'm keeping the writing momentum going for Sensei, I Love You. Feel free to tweet/PM to push me to write more! I welcome all sorts of messages, good or bad. :) They keep me motivated, as always. Thanks to those who have been reviewing! I really appreciate your feedback and I'm working hard to write even better stories as my thanks to you. Thank you so much!

P.S. Anyone shocked by Touya's appearance? :D


	28. Chapter 27

Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to the wonderful CLAMP. I don't own the characters.

* * *

**Sensei, I Love You**

**Chapter 27**

* * *

"You are hiding here again," Yukito said as he breezed into Touya's hospital room. "You must know that even a principal has a limit to what he can do to help."

Sakura snuggled even closer to her brother, who was propped up on the bed and looking a little haggard.

Touya rolled his eyes in exasperation even though he was patting the top of Sakura's head like he used to do when they were younger. "I did try my best to persuade her to attend classes but she just wouldn't listen."

"I'm not going to school," Sakura said, squeezing her brother's arms with both of hers as if he would run off the moment she let go. "And I want to be with Touya-nii as much as possible."

Touya snorted. "I don't need twenty-four hour supervision. The nurses and doctors here are already doing a great job in keeping me healthy."

"Can't you just let me take care of you until you are discharged? It'll just be another day or two for you. I'm sure the doctors ran enough tests for you for the past four or five days."

"You have already missed three days of school!" Touya's temper flared. "You have to attend classes tomorrow. If you want to visit me, you can come after your lessons end. No argument from you, little missy."

"Geez... I'm old enough to make my own decision. I'll go to school when I want to."

"The school is not a holiday resort where you can go in and out at your own time."

"And Kaidou-Kouchou is getting a little annoyed with you," Yukito added. "He was looking into your attendance sheet today and wasn't really happy with what he saw."

"That's why you have to attend classes from tomorrow onwards. No more truancy and no more using me as an excuse not to go."

"Can I not see him?" Sakura asked in a meek voice as she peered at Yukito.

"Li-sensei?" Yukito asked, looking surprised. "Why? Weren't the two of you-"

"Yukito-san!" Sakura exclaimed, slanting an anxious glance at her brother.

Touya's sharp eyes narrowed at Sakura and Yukito's horrified expression. He slowly crossed his arms as he looked from one person to another. "What exactly am I missing out on?"

"Nothing!" Sakura replied hastily and winced at her high-pitched guilty voice.

"Yuki?"

"Huh?" Yukito fidgeted slightly. "Sakura-chan says nothing."

Touya sighed and shook his head. "The both of you are the lousiest liars I've ever seen."

Sakura smiled sheepishly and rubbed her arms in discomfort. Was she ready to tell Touya about how she lived after the accident? Or rather, would Touya be ready to hear all of that and especially about how she lived in the same house with her homeroom teacher. Sakura couldn't help but imagine a red volcano spewing smoke when she thought of how her brother would react.

"It would be better for you to know after you are discharged," Yukito said after a moment of silence in the room. "I wouldn't want to disturb the rest of the patients."

"Is it that bad?" Touya replied with an arched brow.

"Well, we know how well you respond to unpleasant things..."

Sakura bobbed her head in agreement. "You tend to be too loud."

"And violent too."

"Why do I feel that the two of you are ganging up on me?" Touya asked, looking a little peeved. "I'll know what you both are hiding from me sooner or later. Why hide now?"

Sakura sent a puppy-eye look at Yukito, silently asking for back-up. Torn between helping her and delaying Touya's outburst, Yukito finally chose the first option. "Patience, Touya. Just a few more days."

"Stubborn as always," he muttered and frowned at his sister. "You too."

She had the audacity to blush. "Hehe, my brother knows me best."

"Oh please," Touya said and rolled his eyes. "By the way, where's that guy? I haven't seen him since I woke up."

"It's better for him to stay away," Yukito said.

"Why do you say so?" Touya asked, feeling a little confused at the seriousness in Yukito's tone. "I know he was an arrogant classmate but he really helped us a lot. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here."

Sakura nodded. "Touya-nii has a point." She looked flustered when Yukito swung his gaze to hers. "Well, his second point did make some sense."

"If it weren't for him," Yukito's tone hardened. "If it weren't for him, the two of you won't be in this predicament!"

Touya contemplated Yukito's words in silence while Sakura remained confused. Touya looked from Sakura to Yukito and back to Sakura again before letting out a heavy sigh. "I know."

Yukito blinked, clearly surprised by his words. "You knew?"

Touya nodded solemnly. "I remembered a little of what happened after the crash. There were casualties in the other car too."

"You knew who crashed into us?" Sakura asked, feeling a little incredulous. What was Touya not telling.

"Only after I managed to extract myself from our car," Touya replied, his gaze turning distant. "He was shouting from the other side. Just like us. I recognized him."

Something clicked in Sakura's mind. Suddenly, the reason why Syaoran wanted to be a teacher became crystal clear. "Syaoran... sensei... He... He..."

"Yes, his father died in the crash too."

Sakura staggered backwards in shock. Her frantic gaze searched for some place to sit as her legs were buckling beneath her. That was indeed some news to be able to cause such a reaction from her. "So, the reason he became a teacher..."

Touya eyed his sister grimly. "To make amends for what his father did wrong."

Sakura's hands were shaking as she bent forward to cover a face in a fetal position. "It can't be..." she murmured. "No, it can't be."

"That's why you need to stay away from him," Yukito said. "His family was the reason for everything that happened. You need to stay away from him. It's for your own good. And Touya, why aren't you angry at him?"

Touya just shrugged. "It was an accident. What more would you want me to do?"

"Why didn't he tell me anything?" Sakura asked with her face still buried in her hands. She didn't want the men to see how distraught she was.

"He didn't say anything about that," Touya answered. "He only explained what happened. Now that I'm going to be all right, he'll be arranging a place to stay for us."

A knock sounded on the door and the room fell silent immediately. Touya cleared his throat after composing himself and bade whoever was outside to enter.

Syaoran's mother came in with a man in suit and a briefcase in his hand. She stopped short when she spotted Sakura in the room.

"Now I understand," she murmured and shrugged her shoulders. "No matter. It all ends now."

"Do we know you?" Touya asked from the bed, regarding Yelan with cool eyes.

"This young lady does," she replied with a wave in Sakura's direction. I'm Li Yelan, Syaoran's mother. I've come today with a proposition for you."

"W-what?" Sakura thought she had heard wrongly.

"A proposition," Yelan repeated, crossing her arms. Sakura wondered how she managed to make each action look so gave the man standing rigidly behind him a nod and he placed the briefcase on the counter at the foot of Touya's bed. It opened to reveal numerous neat stacks of cash. "This is our offer in exchange for your sworn silence and to cut off all contact with our family."

"This... This is ridiculous!" Touya roared. "What's the meaning of this?"

"It's actually simple. I pay you and you stay away from us. If you can do that, all these are yours to keep. You need it, trust me."

"Did sensei know about this?" Sakura pushed herself off the couch and glared at Yelan even though she was quaking in fear. "Did he know?"

"This arrangement?" Yelan asked, giving the briefcase a scanting look. "I am the head of the family and I call the shot, not that it's any of your business."

Sakura reached for the briefcase, ignoring the incredulous looks from her brother and slammed it shut, almost cutting off the guy's fingers in the process. Sakura was thankful for his quick reflexes for she didn't want to cause harm to anyone even though she felt like throttling Yelan for insulting her family with bribey.

"What's this? You are going to accept our offer then?"

With one last glare, Sakura shoved the briefcase off the counter and watched it hit the ground with a loud crash. A smug look spread across her face as she watched Yelan's expression, which was growing annoyed.

"Sakura, don't be rude," Touya warned with a stern voice.

She whirled back on her brother so fast that her bangs whipped across her face, obscuring her vision. She swatted her hair aside so that she could see her brother. "Who's the rude one here offering others money as if we're some beggars?"

"I know you are angry," Touya replied and beckoned Sakura to him. "I'm angry too but we can't resort to violence."

"We're not beggars," Sakura whimpered as Touya pulled her down to him for a tight hug, hiding her face from Yelan. Her hands were balled into angry fists on Touya's hospital gown and she was dismayed to find some traitorous tears leaking from the corner of her eyes.

"I think it's time for you to leave," Touya said. His eyes narrowed to thin slits at Yelan. "And bring your dirty money back with you. We'll definitely be able to manage without your help."

"How admirable," Yelan remarked dryly. "And foolish. These money is enough to last you at least a few months after you've settled down."

"Save your breath," Touya interrupted. "We don't need your money."

"Don't be obstinate," Yelan urged. "How are you going to pay for the mounting hospital bills? I knew Syaoran has been faithfully paying for you for the past year."

Sakura's fists tightened to the point of drawing blood from her palms as she regained her composure. She pushed herself away from Touya's shelter with a determined look on her face but her brother pulled her back into his embrace before she could even take a step back.

"Don't be rash."

Sakura nodded against Touya's frail shoulder. "I know." Touya finally released her and she rounded up on Yelan. "I assume that sensei didn't know about this arrangement."

"Why should he know? I'm the one making the final decision."

"Then you should have known that he would be angry when he finds out about this."

"He won't have to know."

Sakura pressed her lips into a tight smipe. "I wonder what his reaction would be when he finds out."

The last straw broke for Yelan and she seethed at Sakura. "Syaoran is my son. He'll listen to what I say."

Sakura knew it was terribly wrong to sow discord in other family but she just couldn't help it, not when Yelan was bent on insulting them in the worst way possible. "If he really listened to you, he wouldn't have become a teacher in the first place. So, please, take whatever you're brought here and leave us. May we not ever see each other again." Sakura extended a hand towards the door, prompting the unwelcomed visitors to leave.

"Don't think that this is over," Yelan spat and stormed out of the room with the guy following behind like a docile kid. At least they removed the offending briefcase from the room. Sakura finally let out a sigh of relief.

"That was nasty," Yukito said.

"What is?"

"You looked scary for a moment there," he replied with a sheepish smile. "Scary but effective."

"I was afraid that you would actually swing your fist at her," Touya said with a shake of his head. "I don't want to have to deal with an assault charge just when I woke up."

Sakura rolled her eyes at the absurdity of their comments. "I'm not that scary!"

"Sure, whatever you say," the two grown men replied with grins on their faces.

"So... I guess that unpleasant episode answered my earlier question huh?"

Sakura looked at Touya in surprise. "What?"

"Whatever the two of you refused to tell me earlier."

"Um... There's nothing. Really."

"Sakura-san, I think it's better to come clean with your brother now that Li's mother is in the picture. It's going to worry him until he knows what exactly was going on."

Touya nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that woman was hell-bent on keeping us away from them. There must be some kind of reason."

There was no getting out of the mess. Touya was serious in wanting to know everything. "I was um... living with sensei before Yukito-san came back."

"What?" Touya exploded immediately, not giving a chance for Sakura to explain more. "You're a girl! How could you do that?"

"Wait, Touya-nii, let me explain first!"

"I'm going to find that guy and beat him up into a bloody pulp!" Touya shouted and shook his fists in the air. "I won't let him go so easily! That's for sure!"

"Touya-nii! He didn't do anything to me!"

"I don't care!" Touya shouted. "I'll kill any guy who dares to look your way!"

Sakura slapped a hand on her forehead in annoyance. There was no way to reason with Touya when he went berserk. What a stubborn brother!

"Touya-nii... Really... There's nothing going on."

"Did he touch you?" he asked, grabbing Sakura's wrist and shaking her hard.

"N-" the denial was stuck in her throat when she recalled some steamy moments which involved hugging and kissing.

"I'm so going to kill him now," Touya said and flung his legs over the side of the bed. "Bring me some clothes!"

"Touya-nii!" Sakura flushed hotly. "It's not what you think!"

"Oh yeah?" He glared at Yukito and wriggled his fingers at him. "Guess what? I don't care! I just want to kill him! Now I know why you don't want to go to school!"

"I won't talk to you if you hurt him!" Touya opened his mouth to argue but she shushed him.

"Touya, you need to cool down a little."

"Right, I'm cool. I'm already cool," Touya said, giving Yukito an irritated look. "You! Stay away from him. I don't want to see his mother ever again!"

"You don't have to worry about that. I don't have any intention to see his mother unless she hurt my family "

"And him?"

Sakura hesitated. Would she be able to stay away from Syaoran? There were still some unanswered questions between them.

"Give her some time," Yukito relented. "I believe the two of them have to settle everything before they can go on separate ways. Even though I'm not very willing to let them meet up and talk, but yeah..."

"Right,"Sakura said, sounding a little unsure. "I'm going to school tomorrow."

"I guess one more day doesn't really make any difference," Touya relented. "But tomorrow shall be the last day you talk to him!"

"Stingy," Sakura teased even though conflicting emotions were waging a war within her.

First, she had to ask Syaoran why he did what he did. She wanted to hear it from his own mouth. Then, she would decide what she should do.

That sounded like a good plan.

* * *

**To be continued**

* * *

If you have followed me on Twitter/Facebook, you would have known that there's an update this weekend! And for those of you who didn't-surprise! The past weeks/months was hectic with work and exams. There's not much time for me to write except while commuting to and from work. Chapter 27 was written fully on my phone! There's another exams for me in Sep/Oct so I probably won't be very active in updating but I can manage 1 chapter per month until then. I think Sensei, I Love You would have finished during my exams period. We shall see. :)

Thanks for all your kind reviews/follows. I'm really super happy to see them. Thank you for taking time to read!

*huggles*

Michelle


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